[Tamil, Chennai, Hindu: Brahmin - Iyer, Bride-26 - Shaadi.com ...
We are ardent devotees of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother of Pondicherry. Father is a retired PRO from corporation of Chennai and Mother is a retired OS from ...]
Such a religious sub-category in matrimonial ads should be of concern to the sponsors of the forthcoming “Fundamentalism and the Future” Conference hosted by CIIS, which, we hope, would be deliberated upon adequately. [TNM]
[Re: The Resonant Soul: Gaston Bachelard and the Magical Surface of Air by Robert Sardello Debashish Tue 07 Jul 2009 02:08 PM PDT Here's where the Integral Yoga demands a framework of comparative hermeneutics to extend its perception if it is to arrive at a universal epistemology. A universal epistemology cannot be a monolithic metaphysics but a burgeoning cross-cultural dialog. Bachelard's "reverie" can map interestingly into Sri Arobindo's phenomenology of knowledge. "Aurobindonians" who remain stuck in the vocabulary of Sri Aurobindo too readily dismiss any such alternate formulations as irrelevant, but in the process deny themselves the benefit of a practical approach to certain possibilities of consciousness as well of course of the sheer poetic delight of a mystic enjoyment.]
[Re: Towards a Postcolonial Modernity: AsiaSource Interview with Partha Chatterjee Debashish Sun 05 Jul 2009 08:32 AM PDT In fact this is what Chatterjee is addressing in that it is important for grassroots emergence of these constituents and their accomodation at the local level itself rather than abstractly at the state level. For their emergence education is necessary, but such an education should come from the development of creative expressions from below rather than the state based engineering as you point out. The subaltern studies movement began with a study (by Ranajit Guha) of adivasi involvement in nationalist politics through the Birsa Munda led revolt. This revolt had its own ideas and strategies developed from within and not imposed by the mainstream middle-class nationalism. Chatterjee is pointing out that this had been possible during the anti-colonial period, it should be possible again today in the post-colonial period. Some catalysts and some education is needed, but the creativity has to come from below and first seek its own identity at the local level where it can be accomodated within the lived culture of its habitus. It is when local identities are abstracted and made into state level categories that monolithic and exclusionary divisions occur, such as with the national politicization of religion and caste. DB]
[Re: Towards a Postcolonial Modernity: AsiaSource Interview with Partha Chatterjee
by Debashish on Sun 05 Jul 2009 12:14 AM PDT Profile Permanent Link
When Chatterjee uses the term "local," he is using it in distinction from the term "regional" or "national." "National" implies an imagined community being given a common identity based on state definitions, "local" implies a lived community united by a cultural history which is adapting and changing. By "local," Chatterjee does not mean "native" - it is a territorially limited and socially initimate idea. What he is saying is that locally, cultures have adpated to new ideas and practices of constituents flexibly, but states at the national level have to invent group identities for the larger national whole if they are to be identified and controlled. These state level identities are invented based on income but also on cultural definitions provided by existing constituents. If new groups can define themselves and claim rights from the state in terms of their self-defined identities, a pluralist state can accomodate them. This is the politics of adjustment he is talking about. The question of education and welfare at the local levels is an important one, as you point out. But here one must be careful that a western liberal education forming post-Enlightenment subjects disciplined to produce and consume the ideological and material products of global capitalism would defeat the possibility of any alternate postmodernity. To develop mediational pedagogies which enable local populations to engage creatively in the realm of ideas with the mainstream and become the producers of alternate definitions of human becoming and ideological and material products which can intentionally modify or transform global modernity is the possibility towards which Chatterjee is pointing. (I believe this is also the social aspect of Sri Aurobindo's ideal for his ashram or the Mother's for Auroville). But in the final analysis, it is not so much education from above but local creativity which Chatterjee points to as the necessary component. DB]
[Having just spent some time reading Hegel’s Philosophy of Spirit and parts of his Phenomenology of Spirit, I found it the Pope’s point about the need “to operate in a climate of freedom” to be in great continuity with Hegel’s thought. For example, in the section on “Objective Spirit” in Hegel’s Philosophy of Spirit, he explores the concrete institutional structures that promote human flourishing. According to Hegel, political institutions-those which over time have developed various traditions and customs-are the conditions required for the possibility of human advancement and flourishing. Though I in no way agree with Hegel’s narrative regarding the details of the master/slave dialectic, he does claim that this dialectic must be overcome through recognition of our mutual rationality and freedom-that is, the other must be recognized not as my tool but as an “I” who has the ability to step back from the causal matrix and act as a free being... In short, both Hegel and Benedict emphasize the importance of human freedom, the formative role of concrete institutions and tradition, and the need to appeal to common, shared truths available to all apart from revelation Caritas in Veritate and Promoting Authentic Human Development
from Per Caritatem by Cynthia R. Nielsen]
[the Left's anti-imperialism was insufficient, in the sense that it did not extend to the formulation of an alternative economic policy... Reflections on the Left Jul 1st 2009, Prabhat Patnaik - In India, since the adversity of workers, peasants, agricultural labourers and petty producers, under globalization, has been accompanied by high growth rates, and rapid increases in incomes and opportunities for the urban middle class, a degree of pro-imperialism among this class which includes intellectuals, media persons and professionals, and hence a degree of exasperation with the Left's continued adherence to old ''anti-imperialist shibboleths'', is hardly surprising. The Left's error that accounts for its loss in the recent elections can be located here. As long as the urban middle class in India is not hit by the adverse consequences of globalization, it will continue to remain sympathetically disposed towards imperialism. Anti-imperialist ideological appeals alone, though they must continue to be made, will not sway it much.]
[India has not yet heard the message of Sri Aurobindo. We need good leaders who can take us forward to that unique destiny. Every country is important to us because we are not only Indians but also part of the whole world. Let other countries fulfill their destinies and we ours. Only by sacrifice can purity come and not by indulgence. We need to sacrifice to see a better world. Every individual and country matters in this world. India can rise when we can give minimum freedom for our citizens in terms of speech, education and health to individuals. When we start thinking of our society . One of the poorest in the world live in our country. We see it but we do not do anything. If individual shakti's are not allowed to express themselves how are we going to see the nation shakti awaken? We need to give greater oppurtunity to our poor citizens. The shakti is suppressed under poverty, hunger and ignorance. Re: India’s Independence and the Spiritual Destiny: Part E Mirror of Tomorrow
by rakesh on Thu 09 Jul 2009 11:56 AM IST Profile Permanent Link]
[Aspiration Comment by Jordi Valero
Nationalism is not a out of time idea, a ridiculous vision...at least yet. the future of humanity will see the brotherhood among human beings and the disappearance of nations, but not yet. This will be tomorrow, not today. I belong to Catalan Nation. It is a nation that fight to become a reality among the free nations around the world... Comment by Jordi Valero
Catalan people are, as a rule, people with a global thought. As a rule, as I've said, we are talking about one folk that lives opened to the world. But we need be as a nation, we need to realize our colective soul...But we have a problem called Spain and its castilian vision. We are called by them "primitive people" and "people who wants speak a minority language". But, perhaps, we will be a free nation...into a big world. One day, I hope.]
[Jul 8, 2009 *Create Your Own Economy*, special offer
from Marginal Revolution by Tyler Cowen Buy the book here.
As an economist I believe in the power of incentives.]
That "local creativity" evolve "comparative hermeneutics" for "cross-cultural dialog" is a tall order, especially when the vernacular is just a notch above illiteracy in India. [TNM]
[Representing Swami Vivekananda: Some Issues and Debates By Makarand Paranjape
by Debashish on November 6, 2008 09:15PM (PST)
Controversy surrounding the representation of a "nationalized" Indian mystic comes late to Sri Aurobindo. Pre-dating the latter in personal chronology as in nationalism and the modern articulation of a global Vedantic spirituality, Vivekananda precedes also in the matter of contemporary debates on representation. more » Comments (1) Permanent Link]
[Sri Aurobindo certainly draws on Vedas, Upanishads and the Gita in his spiritual teaching and practice, though it may be debated that he did not need these for formulating the Integral Yoga. Re: Sri Aurobindo and Hinduism (a speech by Peter Heehs: Hyderabad 2006)
by Debashish on Sat 27 Sep 2008 11:38 PM PDT Profile Permanent Link]
[Science, Culture and Integral Yoga :: Sri Aurobindo and Hinduism
Sri Aurobindo and Hinduism (a speech by Peter Heehs: Hyderabad 2006) ..... From this point onward, Sri Aurobindo hardly referred to Hinduism or to Indian religion in general in his recorded talks or writings. In a letter to his brother written in April 1920, he wrote that the current revival of Vaishnavism, like the earlier revival of Vedanta, was all "very old and unsuitable for the new age". Indian civilisation, he observed, had become "a stagnant backwater, Indian religion a bigotry of externals." ... Nevertheless, it is certain that Sri Aurobindo considered Hinduism and other religions to belong to the world's past, and he had no desire to perpetuate them. Permanent Link]
[Sita Ram Goel, in Catholic Ashrams, writes: “[T]he literature of Indigenisation provides ample proof that several Hindu philosophies are being actively considered by the mission strategists as conveyors of Christianity. The Advaita of Shankaracharya has been the hottest favourite so far. The Vishistadvaita of Ramanuja, the Bhakti of the Alvar saints and Vaishnava Acharyas, the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Vichara of Ramana Maharishi are not far behind.” Atma Jyoti Ashram: Wolf in sheep’s clothing - II The diabolical game of evangelists in a Hindu Ashram By Swami Devananda Saraswati Organiser Home July 12, 2009]
Not many have ventured to confront the contentious repercussions of reformulation of religion hammered out by The Mother & Sri Aurobindo. Let alone the Global perspective, the diversity of Indian situation itself is too complex to be explicated. [TNM]
[the Left's anti-imperialism was insufficient, in the sense that it did not extend to the formulation of an alternative economic policy... Reflections on the Left Jul 1st 2009, Prabhat Patnaik - In India, since the adversity of workers, peasants, agricultural labourers and petty producers, under globalization, has been accompanied by high growth rates, and rapid increases in incomes and opportunities for the urban middle class, a degree of pro-imperialism among this class which includes intellectuals, media persons and professionals, and hence a degree of exasperation with the Left's continued adherence to old ''anti-imperialist shibboleths'', is hardly surprising. The Left's error that accounts for its loss in the recent elections can be located here. As long as the urban middle class in India is not hit by the adverse consequences of globalization, it will continue to remain sympathetically disposed towards imperialism. Anti-imperialist ideological appeals alone, though they must continue to be made, will not sway it much. Two additional factors that will contribute towards this sympathy for imperialism are, first, the assumption of US Presidency by Barack Obama who represents ''imperialism with a human face'', and, second, the strong opposition to imperialism coming at present from the Islamist movements with which broad sections of the Indian urban middle class have little affinity. As long as the Indian Left remains true to its ideology and the interests of its class base, the pro-imperialist sympathies of the Indian urban middle class will necessarily entail some estrangement of this class from the Left. This is a phenomenon that will haunt the Left for as long as the current conjuncture continues. In the recent elections, it follows that a certain loss of urban support for the Left became unavoidable when it broke with the UPA because of its anti-imperialism. Prabhat advises Left not to shun poor Economic Times - NEW DELHI: At a time when the Left is reassessing its political identity in the wake of unprecedented election losses, economist and communist ideologue ... Article on LDF defeat : VS defends Patnaik Express Buzz
Achuthanandan unfazed; takes a dig at party rivals Peninsula On-line]
It is not often that politicians confess shortcomings. The recent election debacle, surprisingly, has forced many to be candid and this is a welcome trend in Indian politics. Prabhat Patnaik has admitted that the Left was done in because of its opposition to the nuclear deal. It was crystal clear then, but neither the Left nor the BJP was ready to listen to sane voices. It is strange that crucial policy decisions are handled with such mediocrity and perfunctoriness. [TNM]
[One may posit something similar for Sri Aurobindo (and the Mother) vis-a-vis the ashram and Auroville. The cultural nationalism in which the local self-governance of the ashram is founded needs to be seen as intentionally progressive in its engagement with a spiritual internationalism, as discursively elaborated in the text of The Human Cycle and The Ideal of Human Unity. The pratical basis for such a dialectic was set up by the Mother through the founding of the neighboring city-community of Auroville, based in its areligious trans-national ideals and political charter. But the necessary creativity which Chatterjee enjoins for engaging in ideas of self-critique and social transcendence or of dialectical synthesis towards the co-languaging of participating cultures, has unfortunately not been in evidence in either of these communities. A majoritarian discourse within the ashram has moved towards the espousal of local and national authoritarianism, cultural chauvinism and religious fundamentalism and a rejection of engagement with the ideals of plural self-governence; while Auroville has largely drifted towards the superficial anarchy of New Age practices tending towards the exotic rather than the questioning of human boundaries through trans-cultural dialog. The rupture in deep ashram-Auroville engagement and the current imbroglio wrt Peter Heehs and his biography of Sri Aurobindo are evidences of the painful difficulties of such a process but also of the poverty of creative spirituality bulldozed by majoritarian cultic orthodoxies and of personal interests exploiting such discourses for power and cultural capital. DB Re: Towards a Postcolonial Modernity: AsiaSource Interview with Partha Chatterjee Debashish Sat 04 Jul 2009 09:45 PM PDT]
A brighter facet of the Heehs imbroglio is that a generous reserve of much needed theorizing has generated with regard to the legacy of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo. But Banerji’s acuity is often marred by blanket generalizations coupled with the animus he nurses currently. [TNM]
[Deconstructing Advaita Vedanta Most modern Indian religious teachers do take Advaita Vedanta out of its original Vedic religious context, and in doing so give a potent weapon to the enemy with which to attack Hindu religion and undermine Hindu society and culture. Sita Ram Goel, in Catholic Ashrams, writes: “[T]he literature of Indigenisation provides ample proof that several Hindu philosophies are being actively considered by the mission strategists as conveyors of Christianity. The Advaita of Shankaracharya has been the hottest favourite so far. The Vishistadvaita of Ramanuja, the Bhakti of the Alvar saints and Vaishnava Acharyas, the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Vichara of Ramana Maharishi are not far behind.” The medieval Acharyas and more recent teachers of Vedic spirituality like Ramana Maharishi were able to know without difficulty the religious identity and affiliations of their disciples. They did not have to search out and verify their students’ political and religious backgrounds. This is no longer true today. Hindu society has become secularised in the cities and teachers are faced with multicultural audiences from different countries and traditions. It is therefore incumbent on all Hindu gurus in India and abroad to put their philosophical teaching into its original religious context, so that it cannot be distorted and abused by Hinduism’s scholarly Marxist and Christian enemies... This is how ancient Greece became a Christian country, and how modern India is fast becoming a Christianised Hindu country. The difference is that in modern India, ill-informed Hindu spiritual teachers and ashram administrators are assisting Christian predators in the downfall and obliteration of Hindu religion and culture. Atma Jyoti Ashram: Wolf in sheep’s clothing - II The diabolical game of evangelists in a Hindu Ashram By Swami Devananda Saraswati Organiser Home July 12, 2009]
[Gandhi and His Freedom Struggle in the history of Hindu nation by Radha Rajan released in New Delhi By Pramod Kumar THE term Hindu nation has been misunderstood and misinterpreted in the country. Before the tenth century we were a self-governing nation. more >]
[Let our mind be free from all conventional separative thoughts including religion and nationality Posted by Debabrata Ghosh on October 9, 2008 at 11:28am
For a long time I have severed all connections from my official religion-Hinduism. I do not participate in any religious ceremony. Not because that I hate them but because it all seem to me sheer childishness. I am more than convinced that the days of religion have gone. I do not know how one goes to a temple or a church to worship. [...] Aspiration
BABUL'S WORLD -10 October 2008 Birth of New Spiritualism After Three Thousand Years
Some personal stray thoughts: There can not be a religion with Sri Aurobindo Posted by Debabrata Ghosh on October 17, 2008 at 8:00pm View Debabrata Ghosh's blog
By what I may consider myself a person –free from all religions? Broadly speaking, the atheists also follow some systems of thoughts and belief that help them exist comfortably. 5:05 PM]
['Every political life ends in failure' How did you end up rejecting religion? It was a process of evolution. As a child, rituals had some attraction. Around the age of twelve, I read the entire Gita. I participated in major rituals that would take place in my village around that same time. I took them as the thing to do.But between the age of 14 and 16, the questioning became very acute. My mother had taken up in a big way with the Swami Sivananda ashram near Rishikesh. Her idea of a happy weekend or a holiday was to go off to that ashram, or spend time doing pujas at home. I began questioning those childish rituals, pretending to bathe, feed, dress the god. I also found the whole set-up in the ashram to be very unequal. I was beginning to boil with rage at social injustice. And it was clear to me that the better off you were, the more likely of receiving the guru’s attention. And the worse off you were, the more you had to wait. I began suspecting that all the special favours my mother was receiving ... Mani Shankar Aiyer is a senior Congress leader...indian express, July 5, 2009 3:52 PM]
The diagnosis by Swami Devananda Saraswati looks to be correct. Savitri Era Religion has the merit and potential to drive away all past religions. [TNM]
[Re: The Resonant Soul: Gaston Bachelard and the Magical Surface of Air by Robert Sardello Debashish Mon 06 Jul 2009 04:27 PM PDT It's interesting that for Bachelard the element "air" (kin to Shakespeare's Ariel in The Tempest) is the psychic (soul) medium of lightness and free motion. Its more creatice aspect in the cosmos for him relates to "wind," which he equates with "anger" as that which moves towards passionate effectuation. (Shakespeare's play The Tempest again reflects this in its title and the active power leading to its story-line). This element in Sri Aurobindo is also inflected as "wind" (vayu) and seen as that stage in the manifestation when polarity emerges, leading to motion through the push and pull of attraction and repulsion. DB]
[In Latour an actor can be anything from a human being to a rock to a sign to a particular scientific instrument to the sun, etc. An actor is just any entity that acts or enters into a particular configuration or assemblage. From this perspective, a “society” is not a composition of human beings, but is an assemblage that includes humans and non-humans alike.
What an actor-network-theorist wants in an account of a social network is an analysis of the linkages among all these actors and how they manage to “black box” themselves or form a relatively stable assemblage. What is remarkable is not that things change, but that sometimes they manage to hold together. A lot of work has to be done to hold things together, because actors simply aren’t that cooperative, but are always introducing their own differences. Speculative Realism Roundup
from Larval Subjects by larvalsubjects]
To "manage to hold together" is therefore the volitional normative. [TNM]
[Paul Ennis of anotherheideggerblog speculates that SR may very well be the first web based or truly digital philosophical movement. As Paul writes,
"I’ve been taking something of an interest in the so-called Speculative Realist school associated with thinkers such as Ray Brassier, Iain Hamilton Grant, Graham Harman , and Quentin Meillassoux. At least part of my interest lies in the fact that the SR may represent the first truly digital or technological philosophical movement. It is transmitted by a central blog, personal blogs such as those of Harman and Levi (Harman’s in particular is a good introduction to SR)."
The Latourian in me is fascinated with this issue. Latour is all about tracing networks. In his more empirically oriented studies he’s always focused on questions of how certain relations among actors were formed, how the gained strength, how they shifted from being loose assemblages to black boxes, what tools were used, etc. Latour wants us to open black boxes and see how they’re put together. In this respect, it is interesting to observe interactions among actors as they attempt to form a ramshackle assemblage or network amongst one another. Speculative Realism Roundup
from Larval Subjects . by larvalsubjects]
No philosophical movement will come alive unless aligned to The Life Divine. [TNM]
Six billion people are yet to hear the names of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo. If they could read a few words uttered by the Masters, it would certainly make a difference in their lives. There can be no two opinions on this. Whether this is possible or how can it be done are questions that needs to be considered by all of us. Many feel that it is not necessary to think in these terms. Others question the modality. Such plurality of perception vis-Ã -vis the available options should be debated adequately.
Going by the discussions spanning the whole past year, it can be said for certain that there can't be any sensible definition of Integral Yoga. The teachings of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo will forever remain a mass of interdisciplinary studies with a few symptoms of religion thrown in. It, however, makes an ideal pursuit for a globalized world. With appropriate structural props, it can compete with the formal ostentation of the academy. [TNM]
['Every political life ends in failure' How did you end up rejecting religion?
It was a process of evolution. As a child, rituals had some attraction. Around the age of twelve, I read the entire Gita. I participated in major rituals that would take place in my village around that same time. I took them as the thing to do.
But between the age of 14 and 16, the questioning became very acute. My mother had taken up in a big way with the Swami Sivananda ashram near Rishikesh. Her idea of a happy weekend or a holiday was to go off to that ashram, or spend time doing pujas at home. I began questioning those childish rituals, pretending to bathe, feed, dress the god. I also found the whole set-up in the ashram to be very unequal. I was beginning to boil with rage at social injustice. And it was clear to me that the better off you were, the more likely of receiving the guru’s attention. And the worse off you were, the more you had to wait. I began suspecting that all the special favours my mother was receiving ... Mani Shankar Aiyer is a senior Congress leader...indian express, July 5, 2009]
[Introduction 
Letters 01 July 09: Email to the Managing Trustee, from Steve Webman 29 June 09: Letter to the members of the Ashram Trust, from Dr. Obadiah S. Harris 28 June 09: Letter to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, from John B. Murray]
All the three letters sound to be drafted by one person. [TNM]
Sri Aurobindo has devoted twenty years of yogic force to writing poetry that he thought could change things, change minds and bring down god into the lives of men. It was a very serious undertaking. He has written guidelines to help us, ...] [Circumsolatious: Connecting the Dots
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[Jackson’s self-remaking can only be understood as a kind of Afrofuturist nightmare, a violent (to himself) leap into the posthuman. As Annalee Newitz puts it, Jackson “turned his body into a kind of science fiction story. He became an enhanced human, using plastic surgery and pharmaceuticals to change his face and seemingly his race as well. He became whiter than most white people, and his pale bandaged skin became his trademark.” Michael Jackson from The Pinocchio Theory by
[International Congress in Auroville, 5-8 January 2010
“Spirituality beyond Religions” A New Path to a Universal Cultural Dialogue
There is an emergent trend worldwide to explore the integral momentum of spirituality.
There is a growing awareness that although religious traditions continue to support ethical values, individuals need and are seeking a deeper personal understanding of the spiritual dimension.
There is an urgent need to account for an experience of transcendence that is inherent in the universal human potential referred to as “spiritual”.]
[SAVITRI IMMERSION WORKSHOP SERIES – SAVITRI SOLAR DOME – Crestone Colorado, by ROD: EXPLORATIONS IN breathing and its underlying rhythms and patterns, their interplay and bridging of body and mind - the sense of listening to oneself and the world around (its differentiation from mere hearing)]
A new religion based on Buddhist meditational practices seems to be in the offing. [TNM]
[Artistic expression and creative freedom must not be curbed excessively. The film must be judged as a whole and from the point of view of the impact... It was observed that the violent rape scene was "disgusting" and... The object was not to titillate the viewer but to arouse sympathy for the victim and disgust for the criminal. Nakedness does not always arouse the baser instincts. Tears, pity, horror and a feeling of shame are the reaction at the sadism and heartlessness of those who stripped her to rob her of dignity. thehoot.org]
[Lastly, how does it all reflect on the author, for the book indicates more his personality than that of his subject? As somebody put it so aptly, one can see in it a constant inner tussle between his admiration and sarcasm for Sri Aurobindo, which has resulted in a state of confusion and indecision with regard to his final assessment. One can admit that he has some respect for the Master as evinced by the oft-repeated strategy of setting the record straight after the damage he perpetrates, but he performs this act with a deep-seated grudge. ]
"The book indicates more his personality than that of his subject" is a contemptible observation. [TNM]
Re: India’s Independence and the Spiritual Destiny: Part A
by Tusar N. Mohapatra on Sat 27 Jun 2009 01:37 PM IST Profile Permanent Link
Why blame the likes of Romila Thapar when no one from our own stable has written any dependable history. So much so that bloomers litter even a post of a dozen lines. Quoting “the Master's words” is an affliction with us that distorts the context and contorts our view of the future. [TNM] Reply
Re: India’s Independence and the Spiritual Destiny: Part C
by Tusar N. Mohapatra on Sat 27 Jun 2009 01:58 PM IST Profile Permanent Link
Lest the concluding lines appear a cruel joke, our slumdogs toiling to win an Oscar is perhaps an instance of saving grace. [TNM] Reply
Tusar N Mohapatra has left a new comment on your post "Alok never wanted a court case against Peter":
RYD demands full length articles. Anon demands a book. Such privileging over blog posts is unfair and anachronistic. [TNM] Posted to Savitri Era Open Forum at 4:55 PM, June 27, 2009
[The dear fellow ignores the significance of the trikaldristi that the Master had acquired. Sri Aurobindo could have easily observed his father's condition at the time of death. The Master wasn't some aging thoughtless fool dying of kidney failure. Re: Is it Imbroglio or Falsification?
by Angiras on Sat 27 Jun 2009 06:50 AM IST Profile Permanent Link Reply]
[Introduction Issues Yoga, religion, and fundamentalism in the Integral Yoga community
On Darshan day, for instance, there are huge crowds filing through the samadhi at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Also, many of us do regard Mother and Sri Aurobindo as direct incarnations of the Divine, and we do have altars with photos of Mother and Sri Aurobindo in our homes.
So, quick digression — is it wrong to be religious in this way, that is to feel a devotion to Mother and Sri Aurobindo? I’d say no, for various reasons. For those who have a strong faith, this type of devotion may bring deep, first-hand spiritual experience beyond mentality which is not superficial. Not all people need to approach the Divine through the mind; bhakti is an effective way to open to the inner consciousness — and that’s not religion, that’s yoga.
Opening remarks by Lynda Lester for a panel discussion at AUM 2007 on fundamentalist tendencies in the Integral Yoga community. IY Fundamentalism]
[Introduction Standpoints Concerning The Lives of Sri Aurobindo
I have read so many books about Sri Aurobindo, so many books full of devotion, so many that exalted him as the avatar; indeed, I have held him to be the avatar from the moment I started Integral Yoga, and have never had a moment's doubt. This certitude goes far beyond mental belief; numerous times I have palpably experienced him as the Ishwara, pranamed to him, been ravished by his divinity. Which is to say, I am permeated by love and adoration for Sri Aurobindo, and doing his yoga is the meaning and purpose of my life... What this book gives is a closer look at divine incarnation in its developmental aspects... What all this shows is that even for the avatar, yoga means facing challenges and unknowns, conquering obstacles, and going forward with faith and perseverance -- sometimes against tremendous odds and apparent impossibilities. Sri Aurobindo wasn't born free from imperfection; he had a human nature. The purpose of his yoga is transformation of human nature; he was his own first guinea pig. Because it worked for him, we know it can work for us. In my mind, this one of the things that Peter's book illustrates: there is hope for us humans; we can succeed in the yoga. Sri Aurobindo has been there, done that, and proved it's possible. We don't have to feel bad that we struggle, that it's difficult to take the proper course of action, that we don't know what's going to happen — Sri Aurobindo went through the kind of trials and ordeals we face every day, and he conquered. Seeing how he evolved, step by tiny step, from humanhood to superhumanhood, seems to me to be most wonderful; a breadcrumb trail of how Sri Aurobindo's outer nature changed. Originally posted as a comment by Lynda Lester on Debashish Banerji's Stand wrt The Lives of Sri Aurobindo. IY Fundamentalism]
Lynda Lester writes persuasively. If "we do have altars with photos of Mother and Sri Aurobindo in our homes," and if "the idea that Sri Aurobindo was the avatar and brought the truth to earth has been repeated so consistently for so long that it has become a strong mental formation, even a doctrine," then it surely is a religion. That Sri Aurobindo "was his own first guinea pig" and "evolved, step by tiny step, from humanhood to superhumanhood," is simply a fetish for the Western mind. [TNM]
[Panpsychism from The Pinocchio Theory by Steven Shaviro. In my last book, I wrote that Whitehead’s position, that all entities have a “mental” as well as a “physical” pole, needs to be distinguished “from the ‘panpsychism’ of which he is sometimes accused” (page 28). I now realize that this is entirely wrong; such a distinction cannot be made, because Whitehead’s position is, in a very classical sense, a panpsychist one... Few of us are willing today to take Descartes’ dualist route, however. So the question becomes: how do we explain qualia, or phenomenal experience, or consciousness, or “inner” experience, on a materialist or monist basis?]
[it seems to me that virtually every social grouping and institution in the Western world is in some sense continuous with Christianity — including capitalism (which we are given to believe we supposedly resist in “the church” through the sheer act of taking communion or something). And if capitalism is in some continuity with Christianity — meaning that Christianity bears some responsibility for the rise of capitalism, something that I think only bad-faith propagandists could wholly deny — then arguably the whole world stands in continuity with Christianity.
Obviously there’s not a complete absense of a normative ideal — anything that looks too much like being “merely liberal” is obviously suspect to these people — but the normative ideal itself seems to be heavily slanted toward the value of continuity as such. Just by adhering to tradition, we’re suddenly really subversive. Meanwhile, the occasional critiques of “the Enlightenment” and various other hints show that we’re dealing with a really strong view of the break represented by the advent of modernity — meaning that “the church” preserves the old good stuff as a kind of foreign body in a modern world that has completely rejected Christianity and self-originated as something completely and irreducibly different. More on “the church”: continuity
from An und für sich by Adam Kotsko]
[Sri Aurobindo was a champion in this endeavor, basing his seminal work "The Life Divine" upon his large commentaries on the Vedas, Upanishads, Yoga, and Gita. That he was not promoting a 'western progression' idea against a world negating Indian civilization is evident from his and the Mother's very explicit and voluminous works on the central importance of India's civilization to the future evolution of human consciousness... Part (4) is the intellectual challenge started by Sri Aurobindo more daringly than anyone else and deserves to be continued. Language Hegemony and the Construction of Identity by Rajiv Malhotra
Copyright 2001, The Infinity Foundation]
[Introduction > Overview
We, the creators of this site, are concerned about recent actions by a vocal minority among the followers or devotees of Sri Aurobindo, and reactions by impressionable masses inside and outside the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. There are signs of attempts to turn the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother into a religion with some of the characteristics of fundamentalism. IY Fundamentalism]
[Millenialism is the promise of an earthly paradise and a savior who will usher it in for all mankind usually under apocalyptic conditions slated for an indefinite calendar date. These elements of the savior, the date and the vision of a heaven on earth are the irrational handles exploited by religious leaders to rouse, unite and subject masses to their will. It may be useful to note that all these elements are present in some form in Sri Aurobindo's corpus, making it vulnerable to such cultic abuse by upstart gurus if they can find fertile social grounds of faithful masses willing to surrender their rationality for their authorized interpretation. DB Re: Apocalyptic Islam and Iranian Shi'ism by book review by Ray Takeyh (NYRB) / interview with Abbas Amanat (U Tube) Debashish Tue 23 Jun 2009 07:18 AM PDT]
If "arguably the whole world stands in continuity with Christianity," Savitri Era Religion too owes a few strands of genealogy to it. This hybridity (in the trivial sense) of Savitri Era Religion vis-Ã -vis the hybridity (in the postcolonial connotation) needs to be discussed threadbare instead of euphemistically relegated as a Synthesis, in the light of the Heehs imbroglio and its future implications.
More than colonial or political, the Heehs imbroglio brings into relief the basic metaphysical chasm twixt the East and the West. Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian dualism is yet to come to terms with Integral Advaita and the divine manifestation of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo. [TNM]
Re: India’s Independence and the Spiritual Destiny: Part B
by Tusar N. Mohapatra on Thu 25 Jun 2009 07:25 PM IST Profile Permanent Link
The Heehs imbroglio has exposed how precarious it is to find the “righteous way.” India’s Spiritual Destiny will have to wait until we are politically literate, at the least. [TNM] Reply
[Lessons from the 15th Lok Sabha elections
from Maxwell Pereira's Blog by Maxwell Pereira
Retired Justice David Annoussamy shared with me his analysis of the last elections to the 15th Lok Sabha: Lessons from the 15th Lok Sabha elections Money for votes Though there was tangible progress in many respects in the electoral process, distribution of money to voters continued unabated. Candidates were alert enough to take care of inflation and increased the rate accordingly.]
[Elections 2009: Read the Fine Print
from Friends of BJP -- Because India Deserves Better by rajesh
by GVL Narasimha Rao. If the Congress’s revival is not the reason for its stupendous success in the polls, what factors have contributed to its victory? The party benefited primarily from the decline and division in the vote share of its opponents... The scale of the Congress’s success has astounded everyone, including party bigwigs. The ‘wave’ in favour of the Congress, however, was invisible — because there wasn’t any.
It is the failure of the BJP and other parties to hold their own that caused the BJP’s defeat; not because of a serious challenge from the Congress. This should be the message for parties like the BJP. G.V.L. Narasimha Rao is a BJP political analyst.
(This article was first published in Hindustan Times on June 23, 2009.)]
[Creation of Small States
from Friends of BJP -- Because India Deserves Better by rajesh
by Anish Tripathi
The time for the creation of smaller states has obviously come and BJP is largely seen as a party that is friendly towards the concept of smaller states, unlike the Congress, where it is a political stance (say depending on whether it needs TRS votes at that point in time or not)... Why can’t the BJP, a party committed to the cause of smaller states, take up this issue, to demand the establishment of a process, so that legitimate demands do not get stifled due to politics, and mindless politics do not create needless demands for states that are not viable?]
[BJP defeat is a defeat of BJP brand of journalism
from churumuri by churumuri
PRITAM SENGUPTA in New Delhi and SHARANYA KANVILKAR in Bombay write: The stunning defeat of the BJP in the general elections has been dissected so many times and by so many since May 16 that there is little that has been left unsaid.
What has been left unsaid is how the BJP’s defeat also marks the comeuppance of a certain breed of journalists who had chucked all pretence to non-partisanship and made it their mission to tom-tom the party, in print and on air, for a decade and more...
However, the rise of the “muscular” BJP saw the birth of a “muscular” breed of journalists who unabashedly batted for the party’s politics and policies—without revealing their allegiance while enjoying its fruits “lavishly“—in a manner that would have embarrassed even the official spokesmen of the “Hindu nationalist party”.]
[The political resolution bizarrely equates Hinduism with Hindutva. This was best avoided. Hinduism is about faith, which is by definition narrow and exclusive. Hindutva is about political mobilisation, which has to be inclusive and all-embracing. Waffle at BJP National Executive meeting
from Agent Provocateur by Kanchan Gupta. The party should have said:
Hindutva is rooted in India’s cultural and civilisational ethos, of which faith (Hinduism, Islam or Christianity) is only one inter-changeable component; it is representative of India’s identity as an ancient nation and a modern nation state; it links India’s past with its present and mirrors its aspirations for a better future. It defines Indianness or Bharatiyata. It is the cornerstone of cultural nationalism, the BJP's USP. It is rooted in egalitarianism, tolerance and compassion. It celebrates democracy. It harmonises differences. It rests on the principle of justice to all, appeasement of none.]
[radha rajan: advani's bjp is gandhi's congress
jun 24th, 2009 From: Radha
If we remove the blinkers from our eyes and study our country's history from around 1890, it strikes us forcefully that the BJP today is Advani's BJP and Advani's BJP is the Gandhi Congress siamese twin. Advani has so emasculated the BJP as Gandhi emasculated the Congress and so despotic is advani's control of the BJP as was Gandhi's despotic control of the Congress that the BJP thinks there is no life beyond and after Advani just as the Congress thought then that there was no life beyond and after Gandhi. Gandhi destroyed Hindu political assertion and Advani is doing the same.
The Congress created, or shall we say the accepted culture for the Congress was that the Congress will be always headed by Gandhi clones or mortals desperately trying to be Gandhi clones. Ditto with Advani... We have rejected Advani, his coterie, Sudheendra Kulkarni and the new-cults. I dont want a Gandhi clone, I dont want another failed INC now masquerading as the BJP.
The Congress at least, true to its origins has gone back to being led by an European Christian. The BJP as it is today, will at best not even be a clone but a cheap imitation. RR
Posted by nizhal yoddha at 6/24/2009 11:15:00 PM]
[DR. SYAMA PRASAD MOOKERJEE MEMORIAL DEBATE COMPETITON
Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation is organizing a debate competition for the youth of Bengal on the topic- Nationalism Is The Key To Regain Bengal’s Pride. The competition will take place on the 5th of July on the occasion of 109th birth anniversary of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee. read more http://www.indiannationalism.org/ , http://www.theideology.org/ , http://www.deendayalupadhyaya.org/ , http://www.drsyamaprasadmookerjee.org/]
Post-election Potpourri. [TNM]
An avalanche of astute Ontological ruminations arrived today. [TNM]
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