Monday, September 24, 2007

A clear distinction be voiced between practitioners of Integral Yoga and other people

090 bm. Way to change others not in IY, is by our example & integrity, not by theoretical bashing" by ronjon on Sun 24 Jul 2005 04:21 PM PDT Permanent Link From: "Bindu Mohanty" (aurobindu@hotmail.com) Date: July 24, 2005 4:20:51 PM PDT To: rjon@vzavenue.net Subject: RE: well,..why (how) even talk about it?!!! Reply-To: postaum2005@sriaurobindocenter-la.com
Dear Richard and others,
I confess, I have hardly read any of the postings on this Post-AUM. I am somehow still stuck in a relentless treadmill of work and study. Anyway today, I chanced to open this e-mail and my interest was immediately caught by certain keywords—Habermas, intersubjectivity and not to mention my own name. In addition to the wonderful arguments that you make here about introducing Sri Aurobindo to a wider context, I'd like to make a few comments.
As an Aurobindonian group, we can perhaps agree that this whole contemporary interest in integral and evolutionary studies is part of the supramental change that the world is going through. Sri Aurobindo elaborates that the influence of the Supermind is almost always distorted when it descends to the human mentality. This is perhaps why the message of Allan Combs and Ken Wilber is distorted. And yet, I agree with you that we should continue to try and reach out to the wider world, and the AUM presents itself is a very good forum to bring together Aurobindonians and other people interested/engaged, in whatever way, in an evolutionary spiritual practice.
What I would like to see however in future AUMs is that a clear distinction be voiced between practitioners of Integral Yoga and other people who have important, contemporary theories to share about integral education or evolution but do not subscribe to the spiritual path of Integral Yoga. If this distinction is made from the outset, then those Aurobindonians who are not interested in contemporary discoveries and efforts, need not attend those talks.
Neeltje's (and Ameeta Mehra's) effort at integral education is very different from Joe Subbiondo's efforts at integral education. Just because the term used by both are same, there is no need to say that they both mean the same thing. And at the same time, there is no point in trashing Joe's efforts, for CIIS, whatever its weaknesses, is quite a radical alternative to mainstream college education in USA or India. And the only way to change others, who are not on the Integral Yoga path, is by our own example and integrity and not by theoretical bashing. Anyway, this is my practically oriented two-pence contribution to this very rich discussion. I leave USA in about a week's time, and hopefully in August, I'll have more time to participate in this discussion.
Love and gratitude, Bindu
Posted to: Main Page

Friday, September 14, 2007

All our faculties, our will and thought and feeling, our spirit and soul must awake to the sun that Savitri is

Re: A Spiritual Biography of Savitri by RY Deshpande
on Thu 13 Sep 2007 02:39 AM PDT Profile Permanent Link A Road by the Mind
In her comment dated 12 January 2007 Kim writes: “I like so much the idea of approaching Savitri from the heart, reading it with a blank mind, and learning it by heart as well. I notice that when I memorize a particular passage, the mantric qualities of the writing connect to the psychic center and through the memorization, I am able to carry that connection all through the day, reciting favorite lines sometimes many times over. It's uplifting somehow…”
That indeed makes Savitri an upāsanā grantha, a Book for Spiritual Practices for making spiritual progress. In fact, that it is, that Savitri is an upāsanā grantha par excellence, and everything is available in it. And yet, perhaps, we have to also discover the road to Savitri by the mind. Of course, that discovery cannot be by the process of flat and dull mentalisation, abstract nor diagnostic, by a linear process of thinking, or the Cartesian thinking. This mentalisation may have its own value no doubt, and also may have its own pleasure, but as upāsanā book it certainly can be—and why not? Indeed in it we have both the domains available—the deepening inner mental and the ascending spiritual. This upāsanā pursuit has its own positive reward also and it need not be, should not be, shunned or disdained, ridiculed in the least.
Naturally, I was heartened when, apropos of this discussion Ron made his encouraging observation on 13 January 2007. He wrote: “I certainly don't think so [that it is all mentalisation]. In my opinion your Savitri series is a real contribution to SCIY; they certainly have given me new insights into Savitri's profound depth. Personally, I hope you'll continue posting them.” He further adds: “I see Sonia Dyne's article as posing a ‘both/and’ rather than an ‘either/or’ choice between a ‘mental’ or ‘multi-media’ mantric/music/art approach to studying Savitri. As she says in her article, ‘It has been claimed that multi-sensory experience, which at best should include mental insight, leads to an intuitive grasp of reality that is more profound (because wider in scope) and less articulate, in the intellectual sense.’ Doesn't the integral approach include even apparent mutual exclusivites?” It does. Kim gets back to the issue on 14 January 2007 and says: “Perhaps there is benefit in both approaches—the mental and the heart/by heart. Perhaps this is the integration we seek, where both approaches can be seen as one, interdependent, the mind—the heart, the very being—all mutually beneficial. I very much value your detailed Savitri postings and am learning so much from them. I appreciate that you are open to questioning every approach as well.”
Indeed, to quote the Mother: If truly one knows how to meditate upon Savitri, one will receive all the help one needs.
In our own little way, one way of meditating upon Savitri is by studying it carefully, by what the Indian yogic prescriptions say, “manan”, by putting full mental focus on the object, concentrating on it, by cogitation, meditation, musing, rumination, deliberation, reflection; if it can become identification, samyama, then one is actually doing yoga with it. Surely, the effort has some value and sense, has certain pertinence as far as our endeavour to enter into the world of Savitri is concerned. All our faculties, our will and thought and feeling, our spirit and soul must awake to the sun that Savitri is.
And, in fact, any one of these can be a way to live in Savitri. The rest will come from Savitri itself. I heard of a person who could not see but when Savitri was given to him, he ‘saw’ that it was all written in gold. I also recall an occasion what a learned person said in his talk after my presentation in a conference. I had quoted Savitri and soon he said, rather obliquely, that the Mother never liked Savitri being discussed, that Savitri is not to be discussed at all. But what does that mean? In plain words, it simply means: “keep shut.” But I just responded, by saying: “I don’t know.” Can there be any bar on any method? Not at all; there cannot be any bar. How can there be? Isn’t she the Sun from which we can kindle all our suns?
About approaching Savitri, the Mother says that “the direct road is by the heart.” She told this to young Mona Sarkar in one of his meetings with her. I am posting this talk of the Mother on Savitri separately. It has the power to settle everything for us. She prefaced it by saying: "I shall give you something special; be prepared." The talk begins as follows: “It does not matter if you do not understand it—Savitri, read it always. You will see that every time you read it, there will be something new experience; things which were not here, things you did not understand arise and suddenly become clear. Always an unexpected vision comes up through the words and lines. Every time you try to read and understand, you will see that something which was hidden behind is revealed clearly and vividly. I tell you the very verses you have read once before, will appear to you in a different light each time you re-read them.” And she says: “Always your experience is enriched, it is revelation at each step…”
Perhaps there is always something special she gives to each individual to be in Savitri. Her demand is: “Be prepared.” There is always something special she gives to each individual. Let us receive it.
There are many aspects of Savitri and there are many ways of looking at Savitri. The most important is of course its affirmation of the Spirit in things, Spirit as the dynamic Truth shaping in its expansive and expanding luminous freedom the destiny of this creation. This also implies that, to enter into Savitri, we have to make an extensive, a many-sided preparation as far as our instrumental faculties are concerned, our senses and our tools, our gadgets and devices, our machinery of cognition, both occult and spiritual; we have to also make progress leading to wideness of consciousness, including possibly the yogic-spiritual. While Savitri itself can become a means for that progress, there is needed the right kind of effort from our side.
We must be prepared to undertake the hardship of its discipline by keeping ready all the involved aspects of our personality—with the mind capable of receiving intimations of gleaming knowledge, and the heart responding to the ardencies of life-movements in their thousand moods of magnificence and dignity, and the will steady in its intent, steady like a bright flame of sacrifice burning upward to heaven. What is it here that cannot be pressed into service for the fullness of realisation that Savitri offers? Indeed, nothing there is that cannot be transformed by Savitri. But, fundamentally, there has to be in us a “call” to live in Savitri who shall give us the Truth and the things of the Truth. With it alone can begin our yogic life, our life in Savitri, of making Savitri as our Book of Yoga. The call has to come, when the answer is already present.
In the meanwhile, however, we can live in Savitri’s presence in several ways. In Savitri there is spiritual philosophy put in the revealing language of a poet, its expression carrying the inspired and inevitable Word. We have in it mysticism, occult knowledge, religion, metaphysics, arts, sciences, literature, history of man and history of the earth, all that is noble and living, that can impart to our perception the sense of infinity which can give meaning to our daily occupations. Any one of these can become our foundational engagement. In fact, it has thus already opened out an altogether new world of creative action for us. Based on Savitri we already have Sunil Bhattacharya’s music, and Huta Hindocha’s paintings under the direct guidance of the Mother. These are examples of the new art that is to come in its wake, and there will be many more creations to bring Savitri itself closer to us.
We thus envisage the coming of new schools of thought, choreography, poetry, criticism, comparative research and studies, fiction, songs, oratorical dissertations, discourses, recitations and readings, all welling up from this inexhaustible fountain of creativity.
The poem has also been translated into several languages, mostly in verse-form, but also at times as prose renderings. Maybe some of these are rudimentary attempts, and much will have to be done to achieve some minimum aesthetic satisfaction that is to be expected from a work connected with it. Nonetheless, these attempts do demonstrate the possibilities that have sprung up from Savitri’s world of delight. If around the stone-still statue of Buddha, in Ellora, there is the calm of infinity that nothing can disturb, we shall expect a crystalline stream of sweetness and joy rushing from the marble face of Savitri; halo’d by the moon of beauty, or carved in the heart of amethyst, she shall prove to be “the Sun from which we kindle all our suns.” If only, Satyavan-like, our “mind transfigures to a rapturous seer”! RYD

Thursday, September 13, 2007

For outsiders like me every small incidence about the ashram and its people is interesting and memorable

Re: A Spiritual Biography of Savitri by rakesh on Thu 13 Sep 2007 01:19 AM PDT Profile Permanent Link
For outsiders like me every small incidence about the ashram and its people is interesting and memorable. I do not why but I have developed this special attraction to people who practise yoga. I hope you will share more of this with us 'outsiders' in the future. I guess this separation of space is only in the mind. When this vanishes one is in direct touch with the inner yogi. For an outsider there is always a feeling of how nice it would be if I was in the ashram?
Obviously living along with many sadhaks is a great oppurtunity to grow in endless possibilities. I guess I will always miss such an atmosphere but the inner yogi is the only guide in the outside world. There is no guru, one has to depend completely on the inner guide. Mind with its endless suggestions, temptations and sattvic imitations has to give way for this greater and silent opening from within. May this happen soon and one feels the closeness with the divine. The greatest satisfaction would be to see the beloved in the whole world and its different manifestations and end this division in the mind.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

How can it help a person in day to day life

Life & purpose Friday, September 7, 2007 Weakness and Destiny I have been going through some rough patch for quite some time...
Fortunately or unfortunately i did stumble upon the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and Divine mother of Pondicherry. This blog is just to share my interest and thoughts. Hope some of you out there share the interest and help me understand the teachings better. Thank you for reading the blog. Now to the article in the link.....it is an article from archive of the next future magazine. One of the lines written by mother in this, caught my attention.
You are weakest precisely in that element which is destined to be your greatest asset
isn't it simple and sweet, just like every thing else she has written. i was doing a task which let me say i am not very good at, when i came across this article. so naturally this line made me think. what does this line really mean. What is mother trying to convey by this line to a child ( i feel more comfortable thinking of myself as her child) like me. Aside from the spiritual or philosophical aspect of this statement, how can it help a person in day to day life... Posted by savitri at 3:38 PM 0 comments

Friday, September 07, 2007

Sri Aurobindo and The Mother intervened with The Black Force that surrounded Hitler

~C4Chaos' Blog blog photos goals ideas books quotes (Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)
The Nazi Occult Conspiracy Posted on Sep 6th, 2007 by ~C4Chaos
I've always been intrigued with the Nazi occult conspiracy. It's the stuff of legends and Hollywood movies. Remember Raiders of the Lost Ark? Cool movie.Some people brush it aside as fantasy. But conspiracy theories like this don't easily go away. Case in point: Here's a documentary from Discovery Channel. Nazis: The Occult Conspiracy part 1 of 2 See also Part 2. Thanks to Albert for the heads up.
I remember reading the book Beyond the Human Species which also mentioned the Nazi occult conspiracy. To make the conspiracy more interesting, it tells the story of how Aurobindo and The Mother intervened with The Black Force that surrounded Hitler. They used their occult powers for good to inspire Churchill and prevent the occupation of Paris during World War II. I don't know what to make of this. That's the power of conspiracy theories: you can neither prove them nor disprove them. So like a Hollywood film, just sit back and enjoy the ride. Access: Public Add Comment Print Send views (46) Tagged with: Nazi, occult, conspiracy, Germany, documentary, Hitler, Aurobindo, The Mother

Thursday, September 06, 2007

I am much interested in Sri Aurobindo's thoughts

Sri Aurobondo and The Mother visualize the whole life upon earth including human life as a mass of vibrations, mostly as falsehood, ignorance and disorder resisting vibrations of truth and harmony coming from higher regions.
universal forces, good or bad, favorable or hostile are pouring into everyone, without the person even knowing them, but influence the person according to his will or consciousness. The cosmic law never makes a mistake and it never gives any thing to unfit.
The objective world represents the cosmic forces. The subjective "Atman" or "Self" inside psychical being is infinite but suffers from delusion.
Our momentary personality is only a bubble on the ocean of our existence according to Sri Aurobindo.
Kannan S
I am Prof. DR. S. Kannan. M.SC., Ph.D. (ST. JOSEPH'S COLLEGE, TIRUCHI, INDIA THE OLDEST COLLEGE in INDIA) retired from active service in 1999. I have many publications in International Scientific Journals. Currently I am interested in writing articles on various subjects and creating Ads. I am much interested in SRI AUROBINDO'S thoughts and want to write articles based on my understanding. I have studied Tamil and Sanskrit literatures in detail. I am interested in teaching young students and guiding them to think of making India to get back the lost glory View my complete profile Posted by navigate at 8:16 AM

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Deep synthesis of Eastern and Western worldviews

SABDA – Distributors of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publications
Initiation
Spiritual Insights on Life, Art, and Psychology
Michael Miovic
Price: Rs 250 Soft CoverPages: 296 Dimensions (in cms): 14x22 Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Society, Hyderabad ISBN: 978-81-7060-215-6
About Initiation
Initiation: Spiritual Insights into Life, Art, and Psychology is a compilation of essays, travelogues, short stories, art criticism, and poems that revolve around the theme of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother's vision. The author gives personal reflections on his spiritual quest, impressions of travels in India and Greece, and critical reviews of the emerging field of spiritual/transpersonal psychology and consciousness studies. He also applies Sri Aurobindo's model of social evolution to the study of various topics in cultural history. Although broad in scope and varied in focus, the seemingly diverse writings in this book are woven together by an underlying critical perspective and deep synthesis of Eastern and Western worldviews.
REVIEW
In his Chasing the Rainbow, Manoj Das recounts how the caretaker of the auditorium stopped the social scientist as he was leaving after delivering a speech on evolution. The caretaker, a man from a village, had often marvelled at the sight of a lotus in bloom: "If a wonder like this heavenly flower could be possible out of sheer mud and mire, with the intervention of the sunlight, why on earth can't the human mind, despite all the filth at its bottom, change into a godly mind with the intervention of Grace?" The same conviction runs solid through the 296 pages of the votive garland offered to the Mother by her bhakta scientist child Michael Miovic. Taking up topics as diverse as psychiatry, translation technique, travel, art criticism, biography, as well as writing short stories and poems, Michael keeps always to the fore a strong aspiration, a robust optimism, and cheerful good humour. With these sadhaklike qualities he illumines all he touches with the light that touched and transformed him for ever one evening in 1993: "... spontaneously and without any effort, the Mother burst upon my awareness like a barrage of fireworks, and suddenly the whole universe became just Her." That was definitive. As is the name of Michael's book: Initiation.
For the contents, barring two exceptions, were written post '93 and bear the Midas touch of a consciousness opening to Sri Aurobindo's perspective. Visiting Calcutta, Michael set foot in the Ganges and "all became undulating vastness and peace, perfect clarity. Ganga is indeed a holy river, but only the camera of the soul can register her real image." This is the camera Michael chooses to use in every case. An exhibition of Monet's late work "was a significant spiritual event, indeed, for me the proof that Western art is capable of responding to the spiritual force and inspiration of Sri Aurobindo's consciousness". Looking at the Parthenon, he has "the impression that it has been beamed down to earth straight from the Overmind". But the real surprises are his takes on the Beatles and Hollywood, as well as his experience of Calcutta. Stuck in Dumdum Airport due to fog which prevented their landing at Delhi, Michael is not at all fazed by the chaos and harassment of the situation. He sees Sri Aurobindo's "milky-blue aura" hovering everywhere in the city where he was born. Discussing the early music of the Beatles he perceives "the impress of a spiritual force that used the Beatles as a vehicle for expression" and compares their impact to Darshan! He looks at Hollywood and even there his viewfinder succeeds in peering through the scum and detecting "the persistent action of a higher force upon the primitive Hollywood brain". And yet Michael's is not a facile optimism, content to whitewash the world and sit back satisfied. His observational acuity and analytical bent amply justify the M.D. tagged to his name on both cover and spine of his book. Seeing a force at work behind expressions of popular culture does not blind him to the limitations of such media.
His observations on his own country, America, bring out the balance between accurate observation and elevated idealism. He says that America's mantra is in her Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The nation, like the individual, prospers to the extent it adheres to its swadharma. He comments: "So far, we have tried to achieve these freedoms of the individual in a rather simplistic, external and materialistic fashion; the widespread sense of alienation in American culture today is proof that this experiment is failing, and eventually the pain will become acute enough to make us try another route." In a previous issue of this newsletter, a reviewer said of a festschrift that part of it ought to have been brought out as a separate volume to give it its proper weight.
Michael's book is a seed-bank for future studies in art criticism, holistic healing and social analysis. In his wholehearted adoption of Aurobindonean approach in every field of his life and interests he reminds us of Sri Aurobindo's view: "Science, art, philosophy, ethics, psychology, the knowledge of man and his past, action itself are means by which we arrive at the knowledge of the workings of God through Nature and through life. At first it is the workings of life and forms of Nature which occupy us, but as we go deeper and deeper and get a completer view and experience, each of these lines brings us face to face with God." — Sunam Mukherjee Sunam is a former student of the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education. A member of the Ashram, he works at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press. October 2004