Friday, August 24, 2018

I haven't read Naipaul or Rushdie

Thanks for responding and good wishes for the mega event. I don't see any problem either with politics or religion. Communication, clarity, and transparency is all that is necessary. Let's hope Twitter facilitates it further and current issues are discussed in light of The Mother
https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/1026350781321097217?s=19

Whether some firm theoretical direction precipitates from deliberations at @PondyLitFest with #SriAurobindo in background is not known right now but it had "incredible enthusiasm, joy and vigor" of Pentecostal meeting (Justice, Nature & The Geography of Difference, David Harvey). https://t.co/C0DEmN2d6g

Epic tweet encapsulating the deep dichotomy akin to what Mark Lilla calls the Great Separation in The Stillborn God: "that the West discovered with the help of Hobbes a previously unknown option." In the context of Sri Aurobindo however the question is how much of past is enough? https://t.co/YYm0qIOn6L

Still remember Anu performing in a scintillating ballet in Delhi, years ago. She offers an equally energetic defence of #SriAurobindo which of course is ignored in the common discourse. That Auroville is central to the vision of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo needs no other argument. https://t.co/fO5PJtlX9E

An informed attempt avowedly defending Sri Aurobindo itself introduces a slant of no mean proportion. Knowledge and education must facilitate elucidation instead of obfuscation. #SriAurobindo thankfully evades agenda and any strict classification. Kudos to the author nevertheless https://t.co/h45JazRctD

Showing the ideas of Tagore or Vivekananda as distinct is a misrepresentation since their Western roots trace back to Boethius, Plotinus, et al. That Sri Aurobindo doesn't matter much in his native State at present is a sad commentary on the state of affairs. #SriAurobindo https://t.co/dK4sCfIz9z

Sri Aurobindo wrote a few seminal essays on Gita in Bangla starting with THE DHARMA OF THE GITA (Dharma, No. 2, August, 1909). #SriAurobindo's Writings in Bengali, including editorials from Dharma contains many of his later ideas in a seed form. #August15 https://t.co/ii3A2tZPOR

A good overview of scant scholarly debates over the legacy of Sri Aurobindo but the real issues are elsewhere. Like, 1) whether the devotees of #SriAurobindo form a separate religion? 2) will his political philosophy become a viable alternative to Marxist, Nehruvian, or Hindutva?

Today is the birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo, the greatest philosopher and poet the world has produced. Hope you discover him after gaining sufficient grounding. His disagreement with Shankara over Isha Upanishad is too conspicuous to be dismissed. https://t.co/RmsZnatjx4

Poems like Invitation (With wind and the weather beating round me) and Who (In the blue of the sky in the green of the forest) by Sri Aurobindo are popular but the most profound one is Rose of God (Rose of God, vermilion stain on the sapphires of heaven). https://t.co/OedJD2Ut9A

The point is, Integral Yoga is practical psychology which every individual irrespective of his faith has the responsibility of pursuing without the stipulation of any rituals or facilitator like priests. This autonomy and authenticity has a great advantage over traditional modes.

Four demolitions: 1) Berlin Wall, 2) Babri Masjid, 3) Bamiyan Buddha, and 4) WTC Twin Towers define, in many ways, the course of human civilisation and the underlying Evolutionary arrow, in the post WW II scenario. The Mother & Sri Aurobindo have foreseen a universal framework.

I haven't read Naipaul or Rushdie but instead, have been reading #SriAurobindo for half a century now. I want educated Indians to understand this simple truth. There is no greater treasure than The Life Divine and SAVITRI. No need to be unduly impressed by technological progress.

Democracy is an evolving phenomenon; no prototype yet. Dynasty has warped Indian democracy beyond repair. Modi is creating some new ways of functioning. Whether Chai and Pakoda are more genuine forms of democracy will be judged a decade hence. Colonial/Imperial legacy should end.

Sri Aurobindo wrote about march of civilization a hundred years back and doesn't share any dystopian vision. Hindutva hubris is no substitute for sane analysis. He lays great emphasis on the perceptive power of some individuals who will lead regardless of their nation or religion.

Sri Aurobindo has written on a variety of themes, both in prose and poetry. They along with his conversations with disciples span over 40 tomes. Trying to understand his views is more important than imposing one's pet agenda on him. Besides, The Mother's 30 volumes are must read.

Why no one recommends Sri Aurobindo? Because they have not read him. If you are interested in your own welfare and a bright future for India & world, reading forty volumes of Sri Aurobindo is absolutely necessary. Will help overcome juvenility and bigotry. https://t.co/vQbBsOjLCE

Distorted history and motivated narratives have corrupted the world of knowledge like virus. Science and Philosophy are helpless in providing any firm ground for conceiving the world around us with accuracy. Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo, in this scenario, is the only recourse.

The Mother & Sri Aurobindo, despite their completely different backgrounds, resolved to work for the future Evolution against formidable resistance, without any assurance of success or failure. The process continues and our collaboration involves faith, sincerity, and surrender.
https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/1028530984424075265?s=19

I find you inquisitive and open to ideas but somehow you haven't paid enough attention to Sri Aurobindo. Books and videos of Debashish Banerji can help you understand Consciousness and Integralism with clarity. https://t.co/B6QcHNvvNp

And also celebrate World Union Day on August 20, "a movement for Human Unity, World Peace, and Progress on a Spiritual Foundation," spearheaded by Surendra Mohan Ghosh, J. Smith, Anil Mukherjee, A.B. Patel, M.P. Pandit, Samar Basu, & Suresh De in the past. https://t.co/v46nKMDlxA

I appreciate your forthright views on Vivekananda and even @WrongDoc expressed doubts about him, a few days back. Kelamuni's essay is a fair appraisal on him and also delineates his intellectual geneology. https://t.co/Vki0rSxLvD

That was a certain stage in the life of #SriAurobindo which is overshadowed by the massive output from his forty years in Puducherry. #FiveDreams broadcast on August 14, 1947 should be seen as a more definitive document of his Evolutionary vision reinventing the Vedic dialectic.

Instead of singing paeans to #Naipaul, if only one can bring oneself to the shores where "Narad sings of the bright possibilities that are on the verge to emerge out of the present night of darkness." https://t.co/CTtKrH6vGt #SriAurobindo #SAVITRI #Evolution #MysticPoetry #Narad
https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1026728390626226176?s=19

Hindutva votaries usually paint Muslims and Christians as if they are another species but if one is conversant with the works of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo, the commonality of difficulties faced by the whole humanity comes to the fore. The solution, they point out, is collective.

Charu Chandra Dutt used to take the help of Ramakrishna Das for translating his book into Odia and the latter as Babaji Maharaj became inspiration to a large number of devotees leading to a network of thousands of Study Circles and Schools across Odisha. https://t.co/DesUhXICTD

That's fine. The Mother & Sri Aurobindo don't endorse Hinduism. So, I call it Savitri Era Religion. Your efforts towards Hindu consolidation has its own validity. And doing a comparative study of different streams of spiritual teaching is certainly commendable. Hope you continue.
https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/1027603261484883968?s=19

You are alluding to certain beliefs or suppositions held by rival religions but no faction can be said to be in possession of truth. Mythological or theological narratives are popular stories to keep masses in their fold. The Mother & Sri Aurobindo shift focus to planes of being.

Instead of specific religions, it's better to look at things from the point of view of individual practitioners as people now are exposed to diverse sources of knowledge. There is a lot of overlap in each person's outlook and that's an Evolutionary step forward toward Integralism

It may disappoint you since Savitri Era Religion is also a monotheistic formulation around The Mother & Sri Aurobindo which considers all prior traditions as anti-Evolutionary. Your love for Sanatan Dharma or Perennial Philosophy may be genuine but amalgamation of ideas is impure

Fighting one partial view by another is no solution. Integralism of Sri Aurobindo is the only answer and his The Doctrine of Passive Resistance that "appeared in the Bande Mataram between 11 and 23 April 1907" outlines some fundamental principles before Gandhi's Hind Swaraj, 1909

Your views are respected but spontaneous responses needn't be suppressed or excised. Twitter deserves opinions of different colours. So, please have mercy on Nobodies!

It's difficult but shovelling off one's past sedimentation is necessary to imbibe the revolutionary spirit of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo, in its purity. You seem to be still a prisoner of Vivekananda, Ramana, or Shankara; that's common among South Indians. https://t.co/U9wui7vVgT

No such strict traditional stipulations in Sri Aurobindo's scheme of things since he is emphatic on trigunatita. Intensity and sincerity are more vital than mere moral configuration. Of course, only when situation demands. Besides, one's sattva can't be assessed by someone else.

Sri Aurobindo is certainly "guiding the humanity" at present through human beings like you and me. So, my views are as much part of the cauldron as yours from which events take shape. Postmodernism leans more on liminality than any predetermined fixity. And same with spirituality

I have said it many a time in the past that Sri Aurobindo wrote till 1950 and it's not proper to expect that each and every historical development will unfold in accordance with his words. Present situation has to be dealt with by us and I try to say things with utter seriousness

Formation of a separate Telangana state in 2014 marked a new phase of regional self-determination. Sovereignty to the States is the ultimate solution for revivifying local initiative and innovation. Delhi needn't decide problems involving Dalits, Minorities, or illegal immigrants

People of one generation wrote one Constitution. To say that it will be binding on all subsequent generations is absolutely absurd. India no longer enjoys legitimacy and must give way to Sovereignty for the States and specific regions deriving cohesion through vibrant languages.

Okay. But, would you please clarify why you see division as undesirable. Telugu people wanted to be divided into two States. Many couples want to break away from joint families. So, division has its own advantages. I advocate that India should be divided into multiple Republics.
https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/1027103448871780353?s=19

Academic method doesn't agree with such escapism and applies critical reason to understand the world. Dispassionate documentation and articulation can bust many myths aggressively marketed by influential organisations in the name of Dharma & Sadhana. Grading or ranking is crucial

Devotional expressions of @Sanjays81301051 has its own merit but are often off topic and dilutes or hijacks discussions. Though well read, he sometimes tweets wrong information. It would be good if he doesn't disturb threads and contribute meaningfully to ongoing debates. Thanks.

"Deep Sadhana & Meditation" seem to be fiction and no one on Twitter has such qualification. So, instead of waiting endlessly for such hypothetical states, it's appropriate to apply just common sense and assess various teachings so that the young generation is saved from illusion

Your perception of futile discussion on needless competition among gurus seems pragmatic but I insist on the academic approach. Books need to be written to appreciate what is best and what are fake. And, #SriAurobindo's insights are vital to understand the present and the future.

Sentiments expressed is fine for mysticism or poetry but in the hard nosed real world where commerce and influence are mobilised through orchestrated narratives harnessing all means of mass communication, any credible calibration or ranking and recognising quality/talent is apt.

Twitter has appeared after one lakh years of humans inhabiting this planet. It enables instant rectification of errors and prejudices. We are all victims of distorted history books. So, let's make an effort to set the record straight in the areas of our interest and proficiency.

Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo has not been covered by most Vivekananda admirers which forms a severe methodological anomaly for evaluating their relative merit. Any effort to bridge the chasm even by way of multi pronged attacks and criticisms should be encouraged as mental gymnastics.

Someone has rightly pointed out that what Sri Aurobindo has spoken about Vivekananda appearing when the former was in jail is not part of the latter's life history and thus the two never met. A few are confidently tweeting that Vivekananda was #SriAurobindo's guru which is false.

Sri Aurobindo is being dismissed even today in favour of #RabindranathTagore or Vivekananda. Even Subhas Bose stands taller for many. Another intellectually dishonest mode is to say that we accept them all. This shows how critical growing Critical reason or Radical skepticism is.

Sri Aurobindo is not identified with saffron and the Ashram he established doesn't imply renunciation or strand of Hindu religion. He hewed a new path in consonance with future Evolution. It's unprecedented and not for India alone; he thought for the whole world, entire humanity.

Theology shouldn't be seen as a problem rather the unbearable burden of Analytic Philosophy in the College syllabi. Continental Philosophy has traversed much far but students in India are not being permitted to taste the latest flavours like OOO of @DrZamalek and @LarvalSubjects.

Rather, it's good in a way; false façades should fall off so that the less informed public is not befooled. Let's accept the fact that organisations degenerate and new ones germinate in the course of Evolution. Discerning that is important for any alert individual. @PondyLitFest

BJP is in power and RSS has the remote but though their ideological lines are not very clear and they somehow revel in ambivalence, young Indians must search for authentic sources of knowledge and justifications independently. The Mother & Sri Aurobindo had launched ARYA in 1914.

Gita is praised to the skies but it's the most confusing text with dishonest interpolations and lifting of tenets. No wonder, several sects are propagating it for their own specific motives. Reciting two lines from it ritualistically may impart religious halo but it's hypocrisy.

Ethics is fictional and aspirational. To be found as formulated only in plays or epics. Attributing it to persons is partial or whitewash. Vices are intrinsic to human drama as conflicts are to biology. So expecting politicians, judges, or journalists of pure virtue is but absurd

India's Rebirth, a concise compilation of Sri Aurobindo's words, is a caricature of his luminous and voluminous works spread over forty volumes. Many Hindutva hands pick on Gandhi or Muslims by quoting from this mischievously edited book. Let's discover the greater #SriAurobindo.

Scholars from Ambedkar to Ashis Nandy, from Sita Ram Goel to Arun Shourie are just primers and shouldn't be allowed to be the final template. Even Rajiv Malhotra and S.N. Balagangadhara, Koenraad Elst or Michel Danino fall in the same category. Sri Aurobindo is the finishing coat.

Reading is indispensable for intellectual growth but interdisciplinary studies often peddle some bias. Marxists tend to ignore Sri Aurobindo and hence a good test of a book's worth is to move to its Index first to check whether Sri Aurobindo's name appears or to what extent cited

Sri Aurobindo rebelled against the past and revealed entirely new worldviews based on some ancient texts. Barring a handful of friends, his contemporaries resisted him even as he received lukewarm response from the West. His critique of science has been scientifically vindicated.

When others are busy extolling tradition, temples, and tyranny of rituals, The Mother & Sri Aurobindo present an escape route to break free and breathe some fresh air by enjoying myriad dimensions of one's unique individuality and exploring its diverse evolutionary possibilities.

Fighting Hitler is the pivotal significance of Sri Aurobindo and not merely opposing British or eulogising India. The menace of Fascism is always present and dubious ecosystems are vulnerable to falling in its trap unless tethered to strong ideological frameworks. Theory matters.

Savitri Era Party favours India as a Federation with States as Sovereign Republics. Awareness against Hindutva appropriating Sri Aurobindo is a priority as well as campaign against Astrology, Mythology, & Rituals. So also espousing Modernity, English, Science, Critical Reason etc

Feelings and opinions of those born in the latter half of 20th century should be of material importance so that the legacy of Colonial India is given a burial. 1947 shouldn't dictate the policies and projections relating to present realities. So no reliance on historical analysis

Sri Aurobindo's birth anniversary on August 15 and World Union Day on August 20. Granting Sovereignty to States is an urgency for fulfilment of Sri Aurobindo's #ThirdDream broadcast on August 14, 1947. Savitri Era Party advocates division of the country due to its overpopulation.

Instead of glorifying female monarchs of yesteryears, if five female philosophers of modern India are discussed, that would be much more intellectually invigorating and academically rewarding. How to effect such a shift in RW outlook is indeed a formidable challenge at present.

The Mother & Sri Aurobindo are synonyms of authenticity. Those who are yet to come across/go through their works are wandering in the wonderland of dubious narratives. Spurius nationalism is spreading religious obscurantism and intellectual impoverishment. https://t.co/3NJMhNu658

We need just one book: What modern India has contributed in original. No whining, no victimhood, no harking back to ancient texts or achievements, no hatred, no blame game, no religious or political discrimination in appreciation or ducumention, no selective amnesia, & no hubris.

[It is in the uncoordinated, unordered, and uncontrolled actions of six billion people that produce the myriad of outcomes each day that constitute a day’s experience in the lives of the participants. Markets are part of those experiences for good or ill.] https://t.co/I79S6HovNF

[He overcomes the mind and its habits, he does not live in a shell of ignorance, inherited prejudices, customary ideas, pleasant opinions, but knows how to seek and choose, to be large and flexible in intelligence even as he is firm and strong in his will] https://t.co/lcqi2wJMbK

[A Monthly Philosophical Review Arya was published for 7 years between August 15, 1914 and January 15, 1921. It was edited by Sri Aurobindo, the Mother (Mira Alfassa) and her husband Paul Richard. Most of the works were written by #SriAurobindo.] #August15 https://t.co/lwxQiGkln3

[Baji Prabhu Deshpande was a general and commander for Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha empire. The well celebrated legend of Baji Prabhu is intricately linked with an important rear guard battle ... Wikipedia]
[Baji Prabhu - a poem by Sri Aurobindo] https://t.co/951GY8H39z

[The Viziers of Bassora, Sri Aurobindo's first play, reflected in a nascent form the concept of evolution of man discussed years later in The Life Divine... and thus helps trace the evolution of Sri Aurobindo's thought and vision.] — DR. MANOJ KUMAR MISHRA https://t.co/JZ5YoXe08v

[August 2018 issue of New Race, a journal published by Institute of Human Study, Hyderabad has been dedicated to the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's Chicago speech and the centenary of Shri M.P. Pandit, a disciple of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.] https://t.co/Hi29h1jkeY

[Manmohan, a great admirer of Milton, came under suspicion for an epic he was composing on the subject of Perseus and Medusa, and he agreed to abandon it (L. Ghose, Collected, 2:viii) -Mary Ellis Gibson · 2011 · Indian Angles: English Verse in Colonial India from Jones to Tagore]

[Seventy-one years after India freed itself from the clutches of British rule, how exactly is the political philosophy of Sri Aurobindo remembered?- Profiling Aurobindo Ghosh with some great inputs by Sugato Bose, G N Devy and Rahul Govind]
https://t.co/ZGDuZXvPDx

[Sri Aurobindo : His Missions for Liberation | #ManojDas : History has endowed us with the bare common sense that violence, hatred and falsehood can make neither a nation nor an individual happy |  #_M_D_ | #_Aurobindo_Ghose_ ] https://t.co/NZCMccpKBl via @NewIndianXpress

[That is where so many Vaishnavas as well as Vedantins go wrong. They quarrel furiously about words, about the expression, instead of bending their whole energy on an attempt to realise what is meant by the expression..."confusing the moon with the finger that points to it."] -SA

[Anyone who has bothered to read The Life Divine would probably actually enjoy reading Hegel. So, Hegel writes, “If heart and will are earnestly and thoroughly cultivated for the universal and the true, then there is present what appears as ethical life.] https://t.co/zfLhYtOvuo

[Meeting of East and West in Sri Aurobindo's Philosophy is a comprehensive introduction to Sri Aurobindo's work. Maitra argues that western philosophical thought is essential if one is to understand the voluminous writings of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother.] https://t.co/mVA2Rt7VBt

[Jonathan Rée compares Hegel's account of the Spirit's metaphysical 'journey' to texts such as Homer's Odyssey, Dante's...in each of which the hero's experiences on his travels lead him towards the state of greater wisdom, or Christian enlightenment, which he ultimately attains.]

[which documents the formation or education of its protagonist. Examples of this genre might include Frances Burney's Evelina, or a Young Lady's Entrance Into the World (1778), J.W. Goethe's Wilhelm Meister (1795), Charles Dickens' Great Expectations (1860–1), and...] -Sara Salih

[And for the many philosophers who have worked in the interstices between cultures, the very idea of “our culture” would make no sense anyway] [We don’t solve ethnocentrism in philosophy by multiplying but by subtracting a manufactured notion of “culture”] https://t.co/ti82ZH3E9f

[Bimal Matilal, an expert (with a PhD under W.V. Quine), who staunchly denounced relativism and pointed out that cultures are fluid, amorphous beings whose overlaps and interconnections are of often greater significance than presumed essential identities.] https://t.co/159z7TKnUY

[Mysore Hiriyana (1871-1950) articulated: art as a vehicle for spiritual insight. K.C. Bhattacharyya (1875-1949): Kant's idealism through the lens of Vedānta. A.C. Mukerjee (1888-1968): a robust defense of the "rational intelligibility of the world"] https://t.co/Vpfn5lZdeu

[in Keshab's work the development of an important theme that reappear among later apologists like Vivekananda, Aurobindo, Yogananda and Wilber. This is the idea that "Western" scientific enquiry and "Eastern" spirituality need not be mutually incompatible] https://t.co/3rE7SxS4AZ

[several of the themes in Vivekananda's thought can also be found in his intellectual and rhetorical forerunners. Three of the most important of these are Rammohan Roy, Debendranath Tagore, and Keshab Chandra Sen.] https://t.co/3rE7SxS4AZ

[Sojourn of Alfassa: A Silk Route to the Saga of Auroville] - #ScholarAlerts https://t.co/BmySrKXRGL