Friday, November 30, 2018

Sri Aurobindo was a universal person

It's futile to try to understand Divine Mother by recounting some of the events from her life spanning nearly a century but even that seems to take many many years before a substantial number of people become aware of. Gratitude on her Departure Day: #MirraAlfassa. #SriAurobindo

Since I detest Mythology, particularly, the religion dimension and not their appreciation as literature, the other option I love to be engrossed with, somewhat irrationally, is history of Western philosophy and story of great philosophers. Their very names inspire. #PhilosophyDay

Christianity (& Islam too to a limited extent) has undergone extensive philosophical interrogation during the last 2000 years whereas Hinduism has pushed philosophy to the background by putting Mythology on a pedestal. Sri Aurobindo initiated an informed and sympathetic scrutiny.

Western philosophy still fights shy of Indian philosophy and Indian society is conspicuous by its absence in the analyses of Western philosophers and sociologists. Let's hope Hegel's India by @Aakash_Ironman and @riminamohapatra be a catalyst in arousing engagement.#PhilosophyDay

Reading Sri Aurobindo under the Hindu rubric is a virulent method and those suffering from it must strive to disabuse themselves. When philosophy was reeling under the blows of science and scepticism, #SriAurobindo rejuvenated it on Vedic Evolutionary foundation. #PhilosophyDay

Most teachers of philosophy in India are trained better in the Analytic tradition and hence nurse suspicion towards Continental philosophy. Lack of adequate acquaintance of 20th century philosophy such as postmodernism is a serious pedagogic disability. @IIASShimla #PhilosophyDay

Let's hope that @arvindneela retains his hallmark academic humility and restraint without succumbing to the temptation of resorting to aggression and harsh words. Reality is multilayered and players in history are complex entities. Honest discourse can unveil truth #PhilosophyDay

For all textual/linguistic expressions, the Veda is supposedly the most ancient and authentic source. Of course, the Veda itself has clear Zoroastrian and Egyptian roots. Sri Aurobindo has done extensive translations and written commentaries to offer a new interpretation the Veda

Bright students don't study humanities. College education is mediocre. PostGraduation is not rigorous. Training in writing or research is almost nonexistent. Reading is meagre; thinking, a chimera. Genuine curiosity is discouraged in favour of established patterns. #PhilosophyDay

Thinkers analyse the past, comment on the present, and speculate on the shape of the future. Some prove to be right in the short run on a few counts, to become famous as visionaries. But to foresee the Evolutionary arrow is the exclusive achievement of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo.

Please read The Secret of the Veda by Sri Aurobindo before passing any opinion on the Veda. This is an humble request. Today is the Departure Day of The Mother, #MirraAlfassa. @NathTusar #SriAurobindo

The Veda is no more prisoned in rituals and conventions but becomes a handbook of self-culture. As a result, thematic unity between the Veda and the Upanishads has been restored. ...Sri Aurobindo has delivered it from the confines of a particular religion. https://t.co/y0s7CcassG

#Sabarimala belongs to Kerala; CBI can't enter Andhra Pradesh and WB: signs of regional self-determination are loud and clear. Turning India into a loose Federation by granting Sovereignty to the States is the need of the hour and should be supported by all right thinking people.

Some support BJP, others oppose it. Politics, economy, history: everything is judged brazenly on partisan lines; will get amplified as election approaches. Informed and honest intellectual wrestling is not to be found. However, there is a narrow middle path set by Sri Aurobindo.

Those who denounce Leftist scholarship expose their own ignorance. Similarly, ignoring Christian/Western thinkers is counterproductive. Young Indians must strive hard to master the basics of philosophical thought. The Philosophy of Evolution by Rod Hemsell https://t.co/VcmVg9jRO0

Company is a monster created by the modern civilisation. Legal safeguards for concealing identity, liability, and syphoning of funds encourages promoters to perpetuate evil practices. Abnormally large companies, like an abnormally large nation like India, need to be right-sized.

Social evils are rampant in India and they can't be eradicated by just shooting the messenger from the ramparts of well-heeled SM handles. Espousing superstition and hierarchy is so ingrained in an influential section is that they never find it amiss nor have any qualms about it.

Apart from a handful of devotees, I haven't come across anyone on Twitter possessing a reasonable understanding of Sri Aurobindo. No one has read him in any detail; most make do with a few quotations from India's Rebirth. Both Left & RW avoiding the greatest intellect is a riddle

The Mother & Sri Aurobindo, in an exemplary and rare show of harmonious agenda, exhorted to grow beyond religions so that the underlying universality comes to the fore and mankind prepares for the next rung of Evolution. The path of yoga, they said, can unite all in collaboration

I read about Bartlebooth (Life: A User's Manual by Georges Perec: Bartlebooth then sends each painting back to France...) in Jean Baudrillard: A Study in Cultural Metaphysics by Charles Levin. A character I always remember like Tom (Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe).

Red Earth and Pouring Rain by Vikram Chandra can be said to be comparable to Life: A User's Manual by Georges Perec. Anamdas Ka Potha by Hazari Prasad Dwivedi and Agni aur Barkha (Agni Mattu Male, The Fire and the Rain) by Girish Karnad are equally complex https://t.co/DFDiCBqK42

René Leys is another fascinating novel Charles Levin discusses in his Baudrillard book. Cf. The Phantom Hour, a short story by Sri Aurobindo. [Sturge Maynard rose from the fireside and looked out on the blackish yellow blinding fog] https://t.co/m0rOQrWAdY https://t.co/1StG8FASap

Solomon’s proverbs and Confessions by Augustine, Rousseau, Tolstoy, and Gandhi are famous. Sri Aurobindo too has written enough in First person so as to fill one full volume titled: Autobiographical Notes and Other Writings of Historical Interest (CWSA 36) https://t.co/XBl2sUvK5c

Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis is well known but before it, I had read about the author in A study of Savitri by Prema Nandakumar. His epic, The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (translated into English by Kimon Friar) with 33,333 lines is longer than Savitri (nearly 24,000 lines).

Have spent many hours from time to time with her The Poetic Self: Towards a Phenomenology of Romanticism (1979) to savour her penetrating insights on Coleridge, Wordsworth, Arnold, Whitman, and Baudelaire. Meena Alexander (17 February, 1951 – 21 November, 2018) #MeenaAlexander https://t.co/I5KVunRVcv

RSS is attempting to give the vision of Sri Aurobindo a shape which should be seen as an Evolutionary leap. It's inevitable, The Mother & Sri Aurobindo have said it pithily. Please read the August 14, 1947 broadcast by #SriAurobindo in which he spoke of #FiveDreams & #WorldUnion.

I have been reading for over half a century now and it's for you to catch up with. #MirraAlfassa #SriAurobindo https://t.co/3LSdjtlI7g

Almost all facts about The Mother & Sri Aurobindo are documented but unfortunately many are spreading disinformation without reading. Mixing fact with fiction without any compulsion of substantiation is being considered by some as their birthright. Alas! https://t.co/3LSdjt47fI

You are evaluating from the Indian standpoint but Sri Aurobindo was already a universal person and was concerned more with future Evolution of the mankind. The Life Divine published between 1914 & 1919 testifies it. So, please avoid words like embarrassing regarding #SriAurobindo

While your impression on Sri Aurobindo can't be disputed, and some of his devotees, in fact, wrote to him questioning his actions; he, however, defends himself stoutly and all the letters are available free online to read. You may go through them sometime. https://t.co/srUGIcl4Ea

The story behind the deity of #Sabarimala is definitely the creation of a talented poet of yore like Sophocles. [Freud misread Oedipus Rex—which does not illustrate the Oedipus complex— and distorted its meaning to suit his theoretical preconceptions.] https://t.co/aTCV9Qqees

A gap of a century between the launch of Brahmo Samaj on 20 August 1828 and formal establishment of Sri Aurobindo Ashram on 24 November 1926 following Siddhi attained by #SriAurobindo, which witnessed wide ranging intellectual churning. Can't be steamrolled under Hindu narrative.

Three lessons on Siddhi Day:
1. Sri Aurobindo is the topmost authority on Indian religion and tradition.
2. Sanskrit texts need to be understood in the light of his interpretations.
3. Evolution towards a global consciousness warrants shedding antipathy towards foreign cultures.

From Morse code to Mars Science probes matter. Economics tells us about patterns buttressing fatalism. Hindutva harks back to the past signalling regression. The Mother & Sri Aurobindo are the only teachers who talk about future possibilities by transcending present imperfections

Leftists are an influential moral voice in politics but their perspective on violence is ambivalence. Congress chained to Dynasty similarly is antithesis of Democracy. BJP is evolving but can't be free from RSS clutch. So no prospect of a decent choice with freedom and fair play.

Textbook ethical positions vis-à-vis politics seem absurd considering how much manipulation and malpractice are rampant. But The Mother & Sri Aurobindo invoke Vedic virtues to assure that those refined qualities are a reality and can be attained by individuals who seek sincerely.

While "fatalism, determinism, and predeterminism are discrete in stressing different aspects of the futility of human will or the foreordination of destiny" "a dramatic change or event happens suddenly and is very noticeable and surprising; is exciting and impressive" #FiveDreams

Marx is railed against but remembered for: "Philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it." Stephen Stearns pointed out: "the annals of research journals are littered with the corpses of beautiful ideas that were killed by facts"

PR, journalism, and critical analysis are three different realms and adequate grounding is needed to distinguish them. RW journals turning a clone of each other is hardly useful. Quality and credibility stem from sound criticism and not merely by academic or professional degrees.

If I remember correctly, the then PM said in his speech that Babri Masjid will be rebuilt. This promise has been forgotten and perhaps is considered irrelevant. But that would be the greatest achievement of India if the domes reappear along with cobwebs. #Sabarimala gives hope.

Savitri Era Learning Forum (SELF - since 2005): Selfie and conforming to conventions of beauty https://t.co/xZnZG9XAbQ Posted by Tusar Nath Mohapatra @NathTusar at November 27, 2018 Location: Shipra Riviera, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh 201014, India #SriAurobindo

Savitri Era Learning Forum: Sisyphus, platypus, and octopus https://t.co/PxSbtGIlU8

[Henry Louis Vivian Derozio (18 April 1809 – 26 December 1831), one of the first educators to disseminate Western learning and science, had a profound influence on Bengal Renaissance]
[Denis Diderot (5 October 1713 – 31 July 1784) was a prominent figure during the Enlightenment.]

Bedu Pako: Fifteenth year annual cultural programme organised by the Uttaranchal Parivar Samiti, Shipra Riviera, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad is on. Shri Sunil Kumar Sharma, local MLA @sunilsharma_bjp graced the occasion. Harpal Singh had once described, #ShipraRiviera is a mini India. https://t.co/8UMIGyNbMK