Need for honest critique

The modernist/liberal protest against the Ashram was simmering from the time of Frederic Spielberg. So the outcry in the wake of Heehs imbroglio is not entirely unexpected as disagreements galore and Heehs camp siding with the Establishment may be a tactical move to incite more anger and acrimony. For, most people are now unanimous that the Ashram, in the present form, has no future. There has to be large scale modifications not only in the rules & regulations or management set up but also in its aims & objectives as well as accountability. If that happens, one can hope for a more proactive and direct role for the Ashram in popularizing the teachings of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo, the world over.

But, understandably, this is not as easy as it sounds since Heehs imbroglio has also thrown the fault lines of Integral Yoga into sharp relief. And this, when the original stalwarts and pioneering ideologues are no more. Thus, interpretations and projections run the danger of (questionable) identity based mobilization of (false) consensus. Competitive maneuvering to prove more loyal than the king is another despicable byproduct of the conflict.

There is, of course, a limit to conducting critical interrogation by persons attached to various institutions. Besides, many are not intellectually equipped to undertake such an enterprise or recognize its necessity. There is a further category of people carrying multiple allegiances who quickly switch their attention and for them all this doesn't matter. If influential, they can always throw their weighty opinions around, however. So, the task of honest and impartial critique by informed and sympathetic sources has become scarce. [TNM55]