Victory is to the most persistent. ~ The Mother]
Monday, December 31, 2007
Change is hard to achieve
Victory is to the most persistent. ~ The Mother]
Sunday, December 30, 2007
How the followers of Sri Aurobindo and Mother can deify them and claim that integral yoga is not absolutely a Religion
Friday, December 28, 2007
All are invited to work for the Savitri Era Party
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Universally human Vedic economics
Furthermore we often need to apply personal and cultural judgment to offset the sometimes-erroneous judgments and biases built into the economic way of thinking. Robin's post is the clearest example I have seen of what I call Robin's logical atomism. Can theory override intuition? from Marginal Revolution by Tyler Cowen] 10:30 AM
If light can at all be considered of some economic worth, then this fight is universally human regardless of personal and cultural standpoints. Not only economics; all politics, ethics, and aesthetics derive their logic and legitimacy from this fundamental essence. The bulls and the bears are perhaps the nearest in sense in contemporary parlance. [TNM]
March 29 as the Day of Joy and Hope
21St -February 21 2008 - The Mother's Birthday Darshan Day
29Th -February -2008- The Golden-Day Darshan Day
24Th - April - 2008 - Darshan Day
15Th -August - 2008 - Sri Aurobindo's Birth Anniversary
17Th - November - 2008 - Mother's Maha Samadhi Day
So, from next year onwards let's celebrate March 29 as the Day of Joy and Hope. [TNM]Gradually the horizon becomes distinct, the path grows clear, and we move towards a greater and greater certitude.
It matters little that there are thousands of beings plunged in the densest ignorance, He whom we saw yesterday is on earth; his presence is enough to prove that a day will come when darkness shall be transformed into light, and Thy reign shall be indeed established upon earth.
O Lord, Divine Builder of this marvel, my heart overflows with joy and gratitude when I think of it, and my hope has no bounds. My adoration is beyond all words, my reverence is silent. Page - 124
Friday, December 21, 2007
Surat shows the way
We also request the editors of newspapers and newsportals to help disseminate information about this important event. Columnists and bloggers are also invited to dissect the happenings then and see them in the context of the outcome of the present Gujarat elections as well as the future of the country. 9:34 AM 7:30 PM 8:14 PM
Director, Savitri Era Learning Forum. [SELF] SRA-102-C, Shipra Riviera, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, U.P. - 201012, INDIA Ph: 0120-2605636, 2815130 www.sepact.blogspot.com
Savitri Era of those who adore, Om Sri Aurobindo and The Mother
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Unproductive entrepreneurship in Orissa
Monday, December 17, 2007
Savitri Era Religion is of great potential value for humanity
[Here we are not looking at a new religion. But there are still perplexing questions about Sri Aurobindo in this regard. As already mentioned, he stated that he did not wish to establish a new religion.
- How do his students or followers respond to this wish?
- What have they made to his philosophy?
- Has it been changed into a cult and should his every dictate be followed slavishly?
- Is he viewed as an avatar, not necessarily in name but in fact?
- Or is he considered a great thinker or perhaps a combination of all three these possibilities?
- If his disciples follow his philosophy to the letter, either at present or in the future, would that be wrong?
The reason for this question is, if they do not operate in this way, can the positive results envisaged by Sri Aurobindo be guaranteed because now it is not a Sri Aurobindo philosophy but the disciple philosophy that is relevant and determinative.
- Further, if he is to be followed slavishly, can original and thinking minds tolerate such a restrictive environment?
As in all religions and philosophical groupings, there are certain latitudes that are operative. The teacher did not cover everything and what he did cover was set out in words which immediately brings into question exactly what his teachings were. Always the teacher speaks from his level and always the student hear from his.
- Certainly we can see his words but we only see the surface: to what degree can disciples see the depth?
Given all these imponderables the road ahead is not necessarily very clear. The effect of his philosophies during his life and since his death has been arguably limited. This is evidenced by the fact that he simply is not a well-known philosopher. This could be because of the fact that he is not necessarily a very easy read. Reading him arguably requires a certain intellectual ability and bent. Because of his erudition, comprehensiveness and profundity, the study of his work can be a very satisfying exercise. Even though he to a degree presented what he experienced and though within the framework of the Hindu philosophy, the emphasis of his philosophies is on his basic findings as is applicable to every human being. Different philosophies appeal to different people. This is dependent on their level of evolution.
- Up till now one can say that the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo has not made a great impact on humanity, but is it not possible that that is because of the fact that his work was too advanced for the present period?
I would argue that his philosophy is comprehensive, profound and of great potential value for humanity. It addresses that part of the human psyche that is beyond the physical with its base needs, beyond the level of the emotions where only feelings pertain, even beyond the level of the intellect with its invaluable logic and reason and it finds itself in the supra-intellectual domains of being. It is also not restricted to any confining or restrictive religious or philosophical dogmas. He does not ignore any of the above aspects of a human being but is not bound to any one of them, it is inclusive and far-reaching. Potentially, it can supply a holistic evolutionary roadmap for humanity to move beyond the problematic physical, spiritual and environmental reality it finds itself in.]
Sunday, December 16, 2007
The social is a process of countless transactions
You can find the rest of it here: territories-of-music1.doc. The key concept in everything I’m working on is that of individuation and how individuation requires us to recast a number of philosophical questions. by Larval Subjects] 9:22 AM [Given interdependence of each on others, many, probably most, of whom we are unlikely ever to know, it is well that we can benefit from their actions without it being necessary for the happy bonds of ‘mutual love and affection’ to exist among us.
We only ever know a few of our relatives; cousins twice removed are usually strangers of whom we may know nothing at all. Our circle of friends is also limited, and while our acquaintances are a larger set of people, they are still dwarfed in numbers by the billions on the planet (even the millions in our respective countries’ or even those who live in the same town)...
Granted that the social is a process of countless transactions. Then, what is the fuel that runs it? [TNM]
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Orissa should not miss the bus
Friday, December 14, 2007
Lack of freedom
This is not due to lack of creativity, but lack of freedom. Most people are bound to some organization or the other. Although we are a democracy, people are barred from taking part in any kind of political activity or expressing their opinions, as per their service rules. The political sphere, therefore, remains the fiefdom of the unemployed. [TNM]
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Castes and sub-castes as “federation of free nationalities”
If we take the liberty of transposing crudely one of the key ideas that Sri Aurobindo popularized, the castes and the sub-castes can be seen as welcome corporate formations. They can exist as a “federation of free nationalities” both competing and co-operating with each other. [TNM, Director, Savitri Era Learning Forum, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad] 8:13 AM 7:59 AM
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Censoring history
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Break this illogical and distorting order of knowledge dispensation
But the same degree of leverage has not been achieved in the field of philosophy and social science. Going by the newspaper articles it becomes apparent that India doesn’t exist in the mind of the scholars in the West. The Indian context is never alluded to in sociological analyses. The Veda, for instance, is yet to find a mention in their University syllabi pertaining to Ancient philosophy.
We shall have to break this illogical and distorting order of knowledge dispensation. Savitri Erans have the consent and sanction of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo in this respect. Sri Aurobindo himself was writing in the Bande Mataram a century ago inaugurating such an agenda. Prof. S. K. Maitra, heroically, has sounded the heralds. Wide-ranging writing must commence to win this more difficult war. [TNM] 11:34 PM 2:37 PM
Friday, December 07, 2007
Savitri Era cultural fraternity
Majority? Yes and No
- The 123 agreement is in a logjam. Karat says that the majority of MPs are against it. [The Hindu]
- Chávez concedes defeat in the referendum for constitutional reforms. [Democracy in the Americas]
While the Venezuelan verdict is welcome, the “majority” principle is against the national interest in the Indian context. Here, the leader should ride roughshod over niceties in order to secure a salute from the posterity. [TNM] 5:00 PM
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Canvassing and carnival
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Sri Aurobindo, who passed away on this date 57 years back, was an expert on religion
Writing of books on religion – both, for and against – is spreading like an epidemic. Scientists, journalists, columnists, psychoanalysts, politicians, professors of Political Science, and sundry social scientists and commentators are out with books and they are being read as well as debated avidly. Hundreds of denizens of the blogosphere dutifully read them, report, and recommend. Amazon.com is growing amazingly for this reason.
Inability to recognize the distinctiveness of the extraordinary metaphysical output of Sri Aurobindo as expounded in The Life Divine and Savitri is an utter intellectual failure of the present generation. Not to be agog and astir about such prophetic utterances signifies certain deafness towards the radical and the veridical. This is a peculiar ailment afflicting the elite at the moment. The subliminal planes of our being turn insignificant in the face of the sub-prime crisis.
Sri Aurobindo, who passed away on this date 57 years back, was an expert on religion. There is no better book than The Life Divine on the subject of religion and philosophy. Notion and nature, matter and memory, sleep and dream, rebirth and evolution; the mystery of all knotty questions have been answered to the satisfaction spanning race, religion and culture. For any subject, in all fairness, one should read the expert, and not the layperson.
It is not metaphysics alone. The Mother and Sri Aurobindo have instantiated an obscure and abstruse evolutionary alchemy, the urgency of which needs to be appreciated by the mankind. All our education would be deemed as fruitful if harnessed in broadcasting this epochal imperative. The message is simple, the invitation direct, and the prospectus is in black and white. Time to heal our intellectual infructuity. [TNM]