Wart eaters

All his life, Sri Aurobindo fought against the "illusion of the obvious" and sought to dislodge the positivist preponderance by ushering in the "logic of the Infinite." Spirituality, essentially, signifies this; and along with The Mother, he embodied this truth, thus crafting a miraculous integration of the temporal with the eternal. In heralding his pioneering role in the evolutionary ladder, his consistency and firmness is remarkable. Never before, we meet anyone else daring to shoulder the burden of the world in such a forthright manner. Both in theory and practice - and, also in visionary faculty- his verifiable contributions are incomparable and unparalleled. He is, verily, the epitome of earthly perfection.

If we have an unacademic at the other end out to survey the Himalayan range and height of this great Master with a tiny telescope, armed with unadulterated irreverence and quiverful of hubris, he, not surprisingly, will see only warts instead of the peaks. His slavish courtiers would cheer him up with roars of Eureka every time he discovers a new fault in the Master. Peer-reviewed academic journals and University Presses, then, make a beeline to grab his invaluable Sokal-esque output. Perfoming such a miracle, understandably, surpasses the Slumdog Millionaire narrative. [TNM55]

World Union hopes post-9/11

Memory of this (blood) red letter day will, undeniably and justifiably, linger throughout the century. More so, because of the ideological and theoretical churning that unleashed in its wake. Enlightenment ideals were perceived to be jeopardised by the Clash and End of History crashed back to square one. But what are the lessons after a decade?

Psychologically, mankind has not moved even an inch. Political, economic, and religious divisions have hardened further and disparities have widened. Falsehood relating to securities and investments are being traded with impunity. Currency manipulation is rampant and reverting to gold standard is being resisted. Overall, a sort of jungle law is being enforced by the dominant players. This, paradoxically, under the watchful eyes of thousands of analysts and professionals.

Free markets is a great idea, but local prosperity was ostensibly treated as one. In the face of challenges now, new modalities of protectionism are being promulgated.

An artificial geographical barrier in the domain of philosophy enforced by the universities, similarly, has caused immense harm. Instead of striving for integration of ideas, an unsavoury caste system persists to the detriment of global peace and harmony. Ironically, never anyone raises a voice in this regard.

Human unity, veritably, is a distant dream today, but the words of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo endow us with enormous hope. We own nothing sans aspiration, and lo, it's the hour of the unexpected. [TNM55]

Sri Aurobindo surpasses everyone

The role of time in Sri Aurobindo's philosophy and yoga is very crucial. Evolution, obviously, is hitched to time; and in yoga too we hear him telling oftentimes, "He is not yet ready" or something similar. This highlights his reliance on the future time as a remedy for the present woes. Such a teleological blueprint, however, fails the test of critical reason.

The best way to benefit from his philosophy, therefore, is to undertake a comparison with the major figures of Western thought. S.K. Maitra's pioneering studies are an indispensable guide in this respect. But they don't cover Phenomenology and subsequent streams. Husserl and Heidegger, however, can be accessed through J.N. Mohanty and J.L. Mehta respectively. But for the rest, no dependable specialist is in sight.

As far as a wholesome ontology is concerned, Sri Aurobindo surpasses everyone. So, as more and more attention is diverted towards India - NYT has a India blog now and Amazon is all set to set shop - his works will top the charts on sheer merit. More capable brains than has happened till now will ruthlessly dissect his utterances only to drop at their knees before him ultimately.

Encountering this prospect is not too far fetched. Blogosphere is agog with sophisticated debate at present as to the nature of reality. Sri Aurobindo has an eminent role in this with something prominent to say. The breakthrough can come at any time, and what was initiated by Wilber can reach it's logical end. Are we ready? [ TNM55]

Sauvik wants supervision

[Why can't entrepreneurs build parks for kids? Like the guy I met who said he is building a skating rink. They have privatised garbage collection - but they don't supervise the work, and much of the equipment is shoddy: little Mahindra trucks that won't carry more than a few kilos at a time. The ladies who work at street-sweeping in their uniforms are all sweet and very hard-working, but they have No Capital Equipment.][Bye Pondicherry, Thanks For Everything, And Some Final Reflections On The Problem That Is The State - ANTIDOTE by naturalorder@gmail.com (Sauvik) on Sep 5, 2011 10:19 AM]

Strangely, Sauvik wants supervision. [TNM55]