Thursday, July 24, 2014

Role of culture in Sri Aurobindo's Yoga

The newspaper shapes us in many ways and draws the boundary of our interests and general awareness. Wellbeing is covered by many publications these days whereas focus on Books, Art, and Culture has nosedived. Colourful layout takes out the seriousness of occasional good peices on matters cerebral. Their catering to the public demand is, of course, not without justifications. Such is the level of public taste in India is that not even half its population is eager to read a newspaper. Struggle for earning livelihood relegates everything else to low priority and clamours of daily routine strangulates finer sensibilities.

Music, Art, and Poetry, reminds Sri Aurobindo, are like lubricants for the soul. These are culture-specific and come in diverse forms. The options are endless now in the age of Internet. But integrating appreciation within other loads of burden is not always possible. Differentiating between quality and mediocre offerings is also problematic. On the whole, an individual, despite sympathetic demeanour, is hard pressed to access the desired content at the opportune moment. Thus the push by Art, Literature, and Culture in Yoga goes only so far.

The growth of Google and Twitter etc. seem to be the zenith of human Civilization in terms of sharing sentiments and creativity. But without proper orientation on values like The Mother administers, most act like novices under pressure of instincts. Refining and sublimating the sentiments is a primary task and the lessons of Integral Yoga in this realm is unparalleled. It's true that one may not be able to practice all that The Mother & Sri Aurobindo teach but a good theoretical background goes a long way in helping face diverse circumstances in life. [TNM55]

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