Thursday, December 13, 2012

12.12.12: Ujjain is recipient of Relics of Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo's relics consecrated at Aurobindo Yoga Shakti Peeth ... Free press journal - Ujjain: December 13, 2012 12:09:33 AM By FP NEWS SERVICE
Ujjain: As the spiritual leader and great philosopher Sri Aurobindo wished to be the part of rich legacy of the city of Mahakal, his Relics were consecrated at Sri Aurobindo Yoga Shakti Peeth located at Tirupati Vihar at 12.15 pm here on Wednesday under the aegis of Sri Aurobindo Society, Ujjain Branch. Sri Aurobindo Vigrah Divyansh Pratishthapana programme was inaugurated after the flag hoisting ceremony.
IG Upendra Jain was chief guest while president of Aurobindo Society, Ujjain branch Vijay Kumar Podarkar, Makhanlal, Ujjain Development Authority chairman Kishore Khandelwal and Dr Alok Pandey were special guests on this occasion. As the relics reached at oga Shakti Peeth, police jawans accorded welcome with a guard of honour. Suman Didi recited a poem composed by Mother who was close spiritual collaborator of Aurobindo. Member of Aurobindo Society Renu also expressed her views on philosophy of Aurobindo.
Huge crowd prevailed there to have darshan of relics of Sri Aurobindo. Special guest Dr Alok Pandey addressing on this occasion gave introduction of Ujjain branch of Aurobindo Society and said that it was established in 1992 by secretary Sukhdev Prasad Thakur. A land of 21500 square feet area was purchased for developing the branch office in 2006. Dr Pandey further said it was high time when one could gather his energy through spiritual philosophy.
Someshwar Kher conducted the programme. President Vibhash Upadhyay, secretary Sukhdev Prasad Thakur and treasurer Madhusudan Shrivastava were also present on this occasion. BJP organising Secretary Arvind Menon and BJP city president Anil Jain Kaluheda were also present on this occasion.

Aurobindo's ideas are ever relevant: Shivraj Central Chronicle - Staff Reporter, December 12, 2012 11:13 pm Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan attended the farewell programme of the sacred Diwyanash of Sri Aurobindo here today at Auro temple situated at Tulsinagar.
Chief Minister Shri Chouhan said that we recall Sri Aurobindo with respect and honour. His ideas for world peace are ever relevant. Vidhan Sabha Speaker Shri Ishwardas Rohani, Urban Administration Minister Shri Babulal Gaur, Commerce & Industries Minister Shri Kailash Vijayvargiya, MP Shri Anil Madhav Dave and a large number of followers were present on the occasion.

Integral education for transformation Harvinder Kaur, Dec, 13, 2012: ESSENCE OF EDUCATION Deccan herald Supplements › DH Education
My earlier experiments and search for a deeper, wider and more relevant education led me to explore Integral Education, inspired by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Integral Education is an education that seeks to transform the entire being — the body, heart, and head while seeping into the deeper layers of the inner being. An education that is not a mere rat race or a vanity appeaser, an education where the child is not a mere ‘product’, an education that lets a child be a child. 
One of the key features of Integral Education is to help the child to move to a space of self knowing, while working on the physical, mental and emotional dimensions.  It is not just about acquiring information, it is about developing powers of the mind (concentration, memory, reasoning…), emotional development (sensitivity, compassion, joy…), having values, and a strong healthy body while discovering your deeper inner self.
Integral Education, is more than all-around education, it has an integral approach. Knowledge is whole, we divide it into ‘subjects’ to ease the acquisition of knowledge. The human too, is an integral being, the physical, emotional, and mental dimensions are interconnected. This means that the dimensions of the individual not only have to be addressed but also their integral nature, has to be understood.  Understanding the inherent connectedness of knowledge and the child’s own inherent interests is easily facilitated through hands on, interdisciplinary, theme based project work.
Needless to say, this is not easy when the vast framework of organised education is still in old moulds.  Firstly, it needs committed educators who are constantly working on themselves, striving to become better people and better teachers. 
It’s both a privilege and challenge, as the teacher is expected to facilitate self-discovery and self-discipline, rather than merely disseminate information. The child is not seen as someone to be shaped into a pre-set mould but a ‘soul in evolution’, someone in whose journey you get to hold their hand for a while. They do their own walking, but perhaps you can point to the light. Giving the child attention is important and that is why schools inspired by the principles of Integral Education strive to keep numbers small.
Creating a friendly environment of ease, naturalness and approachability for the child, in contrast to ‘factory mode’ schooling certainly helps! This is important to ensure physical, mental and emotional space for the child, where a child’s inherent nature can be observed and nurtured.
One of the key aspects of Integral Education is to help the child go deeper within herself to find inner treasures while developing powers of the mind and qualities of the heart.  This is practically possible in schools by organising regular classes geared to develop faculties of concentration, imagination, memory, creativity, while developing deeper values of compassion, care, calmness, honesty.
Periods of silent reflection can be interwoven with regular activities, thereby changing the feel and fabric of regular classes.Integral Education seeks to transform the individual from within, it strives to create a link to the bridge that takes the child to a whole new level of being.  A paradigm shift in education for the new age! (The writer is Director, India Council for Integral Education, Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry.)

Thursday, December 06, 2012

AUM 2013: America, Auroville, and Human Unity

Welcome to AUM 2013 Dates: 5:30 pm, Thursday, June 20, till Sunday after lunch, June 23, 2013
Discovering the Soul of America: A Step in Human Unity
The fierce urgency of global need and “the demand of the Time-Spirit on the human race that it find subjectively, not only in the individual, but in the nation and in the unity of the human race, its real self and live according to that” (Sri Aurobindo), inspired this AUM as an offering to the evolutionary work of the Divine Mother. The conference brings participants an opportunity to discover the true soul of the USA, as a part of their personal and collective yoga. The activities include presentations, interactive exercises, guided meditations, artistic expression, group sharing, a native solstice ceremony, and musical performances.
Location: Jackson Well Springs, Ashland, OR, is a natural hot springs and event center on 30 acres, located approximately three miles from downtown Ashland and a half mile from the conference hotel. Over the last two decades native peoples and other local residents have come together on this site in ceremonies for themselves and this land to heal past disputes and bring a new integrated harmony. Participants:
  • Sadhaks of the Integral Yoga in the United States drawn to this collective yoga of the nation soul.
  • Participants who wish to experience the true soul of the USA, and those who wish to learn something about a conference dedicated to soul-of-nation work.
  • Native Americans who want to bring the deep essence of their heritage into the mainstream life and soul of the USA as an enrichment and a healing for themselves and for the country, with the intention of finding the next steps towards the soul-promise of America
AUM 2013 will have a special focus on re-integrating the contributions of Native peoples to the nation’s soul. Native American culture and spirituality carry core dimensions of the Soul of the United States. Europeans and immigrants from all over the world contributed other essential aspects of the soul-being of this country. Because of the devastating history of contact and colonization on Native peoples, these dimensions are not well integrated. Integration and healing require commemorating and honoring the spiritual and cultural heritage of all national soul-partners. Dear friends, we would love to see you at this meeting! ~ The AUM Team: Soleil, John Robert, Wolfgang and Karen.

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Sri Aurobindo (1872 - 1950)

Aurobindo remembered Business Standard Wednesday, Dec 05, 2012 Press Trust of India Puducherry December 05, 2012, 12:05
Devotees from across the country today paid homage to the saint-philosopher Aurobindo on the occasion of his 62nd death anniversary. Devotees sat in meditation before the samadhis of Aurobindo and his spiritual collaborator, The Mother (Mirra Alfassa) from early morning at the Ashram premises, which he founded in 1926, Ashram sources said. Devotees also visited the room where Aurobindo carried on his spiritual experiments and offered homage. Aurobindo, who propounded the concept of Integral Yoga, died at the age of 78. Sri Aurobindo Remembered on 62nd Death Anniversary Outlook

Sri Aurobindo Society to organize 3 day workshop on “Senses and ... Dec 4, 2012 Workshop on Sensory Writing And Self Awareness in Pondicherry
Bangalore, 04th December 2012: Sri Aurobindo society, a non-profit NGO, working throughout the world for individual perfection, social transformation, and human unity in diversity is organizing a three day workshop in Pondicherry on sensory writing and self awareness from December 28th to December 30th 2012.
The workshop is for people who are interested in exploring creativity, writing, senses and their own self and people who are above 18 years of age.  The workshop aspires to take anyone on an exploration in writing creatively from sensory experience, where each step leads you to deeper self awareness. The participants will experiment and explore the relation between words and senses, silence and expression, sharing and aloneness. Through exercises, walks, activities, readings, sharing and silence, a creative journey will be undertaken. This experience and learning then can be shared with others.
The venue will be in a beautiful hall (Sri Aurobindo Society) overlooking Pondicherry beach, along with activities in green belts, farm house and sea beach which will be an integral part of the workshop. The workshop costs Rs. 3500 per person that includes workshop fee, course materials, tea and snacks (twice a day), daily meal coupons (for a simple breakfast, lunch and dinner at the ashram dining hall). Assistance can be provided for booking accommodation at reasonable rates.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Neither Nehruvian nor Hindutva worldview

1m - Savitri Era Party @SavitriEraParty One-stop blog for curing all theoretical confusion and muddled thinking just a click away at Savitri Era Learning Forum - Location: Shipra Riviera, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India - CV of an average Indian Posted by Tusar N. Mohapatra at 1:33 PM November 01, 2012


Sunday, October 21, 2012

Appeal of Sri Aurobindo transcends the national and provincial borders

Savitri Era of those who adore, Om Sri Aurobindo and The Mother.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Sri Aurobindo believed that India had a message for the world

A house in Pondicherry - Lee LangleyLee Langley - 1995 - 275 pages - Now Aurobindo needs somewhere he will be safe. The subcontinent has proved surprisingly deficient in hiding places for a wanted man, and the British are thorough in tracking down those they wish to find. He studies the approaching ...
Political ideas and leadership in Vidarbha - P. L. JoshiNagpur University. Dept. of Political Science & Public Administration. Silver Jubilee CommitteeP. L. Joshi - 1980 - 338 pages - Dr. Moonje approached Yogi Aurobindo and requested him to preside over the Nagpur Session. Yogi Aurobindo declined the request. Mahatma Gandhi had taken up the reins of the congress and advocated the principle and programme of...
The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Eastern and Western Thought - Page 145 - Harold G. Coward - 2008 - 219 pages - Preview One such ashram was established at Pondicherry, India, in the first half of the twentieth century by the contemporary Yogi Aurobindo Ghose (1872-1950 CE). Aurobindo, after studying Western psychology in England, revised Yoga thought and ...
Educational challenges in socialist India - Satya Pal RuhelaSatya Pal Ruhela - 1975 - 220 pages - lndian Education Today Principal NW Bhawe The birth-centenary of Yogi Aurobindo offered a golden opportunity to the young generations to know more about the life and work of the Yogi who once carried the torch of liberation ...
Converts do not make a nation - Page 442 - M. G. Chitkara - 1998 - 719 pages - Preview It may be the ordained time when the prophesy of the Great Yogi Aurobindo may turn out to be true; that ultimately India and Pakistan would come closer and stand united. Enduring peace and prosperity in the Indian sub-continent may not ...
Human rights: commitment and betrayal - Page 67 - M. G. Chitkara - 1996 - 306 pages - Preview The hour before the down is darkest, Yogi Aurobindo Ghosh warned that who are to restore the reign of light, Truth, Bliss and Consciousness, now obscured and perversed into darkness, falsehood, suffering and inconscience.
World Perspectives on Swami Dayananda Saraswati - Page 36 - Gagā Rām Garg - 1984 - 592 pages - Preview He met Rajnarayan Bose, the maternal grandfather of Yogi Aurobindo, who was leading a newly-emerging movement of proud Hindu nationalism against the inroads of westernization. He presented a copy of his lecture: 'The Superiority of ...
Revisiting Indus-Sarasvati age and ancient India - Bhu Dev Sharma, Nabarun Ghose - 1998 - 495 pages - In this regard, Yogi Aurobindo has written, "The word Arya expresses a particular ethical and social order of well-governed life, courage, gentleness, purity, humanity, compassion, protection of the weak, liberty, observance of social ...
Gandhi in Indian politics - Nirmal Kumar BoseP. H. Patwardhan - 1967 - 93 pages - Yogi Aurobindo believed that India had a message for the world. This ancient land had survived many ups and downs for thousands of years because it had a message for the world. India's political freedom was only a means to awaken ...
People in World History: A-M - Susan K. Kinnell - 1989 - 450 pages - Attempts to show how the Indian revolutionary-turned-philosopher and yogi Aurobindo Ghose (1872-1950) interpreted his religious experience and how he used religious symbolism to work out a paradigm of an organic society and to ...

Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Abolish desire & replace by action of purer motive power

SRI AUROBINDO'S ARRIVAL TO PONDICHHERY. Meditation with the Mothers Music Evening 7:00 TO 7:30 P.M. Centre will remain open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sri Aurobindo Society, 11, Sahakar, B Road, Churchgate- 200 020.

The Master Meets His Mission from Auromira Yoga by Dr. Ramesh Bijlani
Sri Aurobindo’s arrival in Pondicherry on 4 April 1910 marks the culmination of a long and tortuous preparation that was necessary in his outer life before he could settle down with the mission of his life… An instrument of the Divine was needed to provide this message to the world, particularly the West, which was affected the most by the material prosperity and spiritual poverty generated by the industrial revolution. And, who could be better than Sri Aurobindo as that instrument – an intellectual giant who had 14 years of intelligent engagement with the West, and 14 years of self-study in the East, along with spiritual siddhis of the highest order. This rare instrument was too precious to be battered and bruised by the batons and bullets of the British police. Hence the divine intervention that forcibly pulled him out of the freedom struggle. [Excerpts from an article first published in The Call Beyond (A periodical published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram – Delhi Branch) April 2010] 


Peter Heehs, a US national who is a self-styled "scholar" and writer, published a book called The Lives of Sri Aurobindo, purporting to be a biography of Sri Aurobindo. By his own admission, Peter Heehs has no formal educational ...

As the intuitive and evolutionary thinkers like Sri Aurobindo and Teil-hard-de-Chardin have pointed out, the main evolutionary challenge facing humanity is the growth of consciousness from the rational, divisive and analytical consciousness of ...

Tweets santosh krinsky  @santoshk1 Sri Aurobindo. 1st condition of inner revolution & transformation of life energy: abolish desire & replace by action of purer motive power 1:29 PM - 4 Apr 12
Auroville Radio  @AurovilleRadio Kalarippayat, Mohiniyattam and Theyyam performed by Udayan's Masters at Sri Aurobindo Auditorium, Auroville. http://bit.ly/Hf1ikz 1:01 PM - 4 Apr 12 via aurovilleRadio
Tunku Varadarajan  @tunkuv When a govt expels a historian, you can be sure it is thin-skinned, paranoid and pandering to the gallery of intolerance #Heehs #India
Gautam Chikermane  @gchikermane The book, The Many Lives of Sri Aurobindo, is the best biography of the freedom fighter turned spiritual leader. Most haven't read the book. The book has been banned on the advice of Orissa DG Intelligence - he hasn't read the book. Is India going to end up being the place from where all free speech, intellectuals, ideas will be banished? After Salman Rushdie and MF Husain, the fundamentalists have turned their guns on Peter Heehs, an ashramite serving in India for 41 years. As one who has read the book (The Lives of Sri Aurobindo), I can say that it's unlikely ever to be surpassed: Ram Guha 9:13 AM - 3 Apr 12 Real issue: India - country of Gita, Vedas, Upanishadas - cannot tolerate truth or alternative points of view. Heehs is latest victim. 12:19 PM - 4 Apr 12@RupaSubramanya Peter Heehs is an issue of religious fundamentalism, not security as claimed. His visa denial is a shame. 11:08 AM - 4 Apr 12

Sunday, April 01, 2012

Heehs' book has created a furore

Historian Peter Heehs asked to leave India for his latest book on Aurobindo. The scholar has spent four decades studying Aurobindo. Curious. Why should a historian and scholar be asked to leave India after four decades because "certain groups” are offended? Nandita Saikia  @nsaikia Historian Peter Heehs, who's spent 40 yrs studying Aurobindo, asked to leave India for his latest book on Aurobindo. 10:55 AM
The bigger question is: have we been so dulled into non-thinking by hagiographical works that we are unable to accept another view? Dismayed that other newspapers have not taken up the Peter Heehs issue seriously - it is almost as big as Salman Rushdie, MF Husain. Chidambaram must send a strong signal to religious fundamentalists: stop harassing thinkers - if you don't like their work, don't read it. Apart from 30 intellectuals, politicians from Congress and BJP are supporting Peter Heehs stay in India. PC orders review into historian's visa row: my story on Peter Heehs's needless harassment 9:08 AM
PUDUCHERRY: American Historian Peter Heehs whose book 'Lives of Sri Aurobindo' raked up controversy is keeping his fingers crossed after Union home minister P Chidambaram said that he would review the Ministry's decision not to renew his visa, ...
PUDUCHERRY: Home minister P Chidambaram will review the decision to cancel the visa of American historian Peter Heehs, who wrote the controversial biography 'The Lives of Sri Aurobindo' in 2008. He will make his decision by Monday, he told reporters.
Replying to questions about American historian Peter Heehs, Mr. Chidambaram said that he would review the decision on cancellation of the visa to the historian who was living in Puducherry by Monday. Mr. Heehs was asked to leave the country after he ...
Home minister P Chidambaram on Saturday asked for a review of an order denying American historian Peter Heehs a visa extension. Heehs, who has been living in India for the past 41 years, was abruptly told by the foreigners' registration office (FRO) in ...
NEW DELHI: Home Minister P Chidambaram will review the decision on cancellation of the visa of a US historian Peter Heehs, living in Puducherry, and will take a decision on it by Monday. Heehs was asked to leave the country after he had spent nearly ...
The ostensible reason for the non-extension of Heehs's visa, according to sources, is his ninth book, 'The Lives of Sri Aurobindo'. For years, a handful of religious fundamentalists have been harassing Heehs over his treatment of Sri Aurobindo's ...
Posthuman Destinies - Cancellation of US historian Peter Heehs’s visa to be reviewed: P Chidambaram - Heehs Biography Controversy (SCIY) - SA used different terminologies and different formulations in different texts, this doesn’t necessarily mean he abandoned one for the other. debbanerji Posted March 14, 2012 Permalink
Auroville Radio - Sharing Auroville`s life and spirit - A way to Divine Anarchy 
31 March 2012: Don't expel US historian, govt told Addendum: The question about the relationship between Sri Aurobindo and the Mother is only one of dozens of objections raised by that handful of religious fundamentalists; it is not even mentioned in the Orissa Gazette Notification. It is, however, what appears to produce the most visceral effect in the public, for reasons we fail to understand. Heehs made it perfectly clear that there was no sexual element at all in this relationship. On the contrary, what he wrote underscores its profoundly sacred nature. Only readers with a serious Freudian hang-up can fail to see this. Moreover, we are aware that Minister Jairam Ramesh has read and greatly appreciated The Lives of Sri Aurobindo. He has written Heehs privately about this and also mentioned it in his letter to the Home Minister. We regret that the writer of this otherwise excellent report did not quote from JR's letter the positive comments about the book, along with the lines relating to the larger issue of freedom of expression. — Editors, IYF. Recent Additions
9 August 2011: Review by Antony Copley

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Prof. R.Y. Deshpande has been at the forefront of the intellectual rebuttal of Peter Heehs’s mischievous book

Show Cause Notice to Prof. R.Y. Deshpande - Prof. R.Y. Deshpande has been at the forefront of the intellectual rebuttal of Peter Heehs’s mischievous book on Sri Aurobindo. His site *Mirror of Tomorro...
A Letter from RY Deshpande to Manoj Das Gupta—Apropos of the Show-Cause Notice - Let me just say what I had said earlier in one of my letters to you, that you are crudely per...
Minimizing the Obstacles to the Transforming Action of the Higher Consciousness - Sri Aurobindo provides some guidance for how to support the action of the higher force of consciousness at each stage of its development. “In order to allo...
Sri Aurobindo's volcanic key to the Veda -Kala Tattva Kosha published by IGNCA lists nearly 500 Sanskrit texts in comparison to which The Seven Quartets is like a drop in the ocean. All its terms...
Etre, Esprit, Conscience force - S’il est une chose que Sri Aurobindo et Douce Mère ont remis en valeur dans notre monde et nature corporée, c’est que nous ne sommes pas exclusivement un E...
Dharana Shakti : the capacity to sustain spiritual experiences - We tend to yawn and eat junk food after a period of meditation because the physical body is tamasic(dull) by nature and not accustomed to the newly-attaine...
- SAVITRI BOOK TWO : The Book of the Traveller of the Worlds Canto Five : The Godheads of the Little Life (Page : 154 - 159) 10th March 2012 (Telecon) Durati...
Re-membering the Posthuman Within/Across Sustainability Paths Anita Girvan - This paper will focus primarily on .... the liminal encounters en-coded within sustainability practice; however, some of the foundational theory I present ...
Money Power - Q: Divine Mother, could we have a message from you to pass along to those in the United States who may be ready to aid in the fund-raising work we are d...
Golden Memories by Togo Mukherjee -Dear Friends, Today we are publishing the reminiscences of Shri Dhritindranath Mukherjee better known as ‘Togo’ in the Aurobindonian community. Shri To...
New content: Attempts to create an “Aurobindonian religion” - New content, reproduced below, has been added to this website: Attempts to create an “Aurobindonian religion”: Sri Aurobindo and The Mother have unambiguou...
Sri Aurobindo: A Contemporary Reader Edited by Sachidananda Mohanty, Routledge India, 2008