Monday, February 25, 2019

I won't allow anyone to wash my feet

Tweets in original by @SavitriEraParty and @NathTusar

I won't allow anyone to wash my feet and no one should. It's against personal ethics and modern values. When the PM sets an example of ceremonially doing the same, the backward march of negating what Bengal Renaissance achieved 200 years back, sets in. Why impose whims on others?

Each citizen is entitled to his own perspective in a Democracy and free to refuse any monochromatic assumption. Respect for and tolerance of diversity is pivotal to a civil society, whether Western or Indian. Ethics and human values are universal but Democracy came from the West.

Succumbing to optics is a compulsion in politics and especially dominant for those with modest intellectuality. Modi regime is replete with gimmickry but this incident takes the cake; and is a sacrilege of Constitutional norms. While Dharma experts are silent, Sri Aurobindo wins.

What a private person does as part of his social and cultural practice can't automatically be accepted as part of Prime Minister's conduct. Giving legitimacy to social hierarchy as official policy and patronage or allowing body-based religious rituals to be future norms is flawed

Honouring people of a particular profession disregarding the claims of other professions indicates bias and arbitrariness. Besides, very modality selected for so called honour is not an accepted practice in the modern world. Imposing such body-based ritualistic norms is immoral.

Please read the full thread. I'm questioning the rationale, and the criteria, of the very selection of a particular profession over others to be subjected to PM's fancies. Which book or manifesto gives sanction to such an arbitrary act of the State machinery or Party functionary?

On Rakhi Purnima day in Odisha, the draft bullocks are treated to much care and caressing and worshipped with all religious paraphernalia to express gratitude for their labour. This incident reminds of similar connotation which, I think, is not the right social contract with PM.

I said the sanitation work profession has its own dignity and must not be reinforced in the minds of the people as lowly in social hierarchy. PM's act is likely to be emulated by heads of each institution or office leading to a very ridiculous situation for the concerned employees.

Reservation doesn't require certain citizens to be summoned, habeas corpus, by the PM for performing his religious whims or using them as guinea pigs for his experiments in social engineering. Earmarking sanitary work as the lowest grade is again against any sense of modern norms

Not respecting someone's right to privacy of body is no less sordid than Gandhi having young women in his bed. The urge to touch is an aching problem in the old age and a PM should avoid different pretexts including hugging to satisfy the same in public. A public apology needed.

Harking back to tradition, mythology, or ritual-system is meaningless since Democracy and the duties of a PM as ordained in the Constitution are not part of them. Committing such a blunder is unthinkable for even an ordinary man of the street. Each profession has its own dignity.

Violates the very principle of equality and honouring basically amplifies the lack and vulnerability of the employees/citizens. This is simply abominable in a modern society. But, depends upon one's value system if one doesn't feel abhorrence for this ritual or rather praises it.

Not sure, if it's in his personal or official capacity, but typecasting fellow citizens and behaving so patronizingly is utterly indecent and immoral on the part of the Prime Minister of a Democracy. The ritual is nothing but insulting their dignity and violation of human rights.

From the common sense point of view, it's desirable to treat all available writings as texts without any special consideration, religious or otherwise. The question of Mantra, as emphasised by Sri Aurobindo, is subjective in nature and so the ritual aspect is rendered immaterial.

Religions or texts don't spawn hatred on their own; they are like a matchbox. When a person or a group use certain concepts or tenets to mobilise people, then the potentiality increases and the energy is directed either in a positive manner or negatively. So, self-interest rules.

You have added too many new aspects, so it's not possible to say something precisely. If you feel that Savarkar has been wrongly portrayed till now, that won't be a correct picture. One may or may not agree with him but he holds honour as father of a unique concept like Hindutva.

Implying that Sri Aurobindo had similar views as Savarkar is not based on facts. Sri Aurobindo differs in great many respects even from his close associates like Lal-Bal-Pal. Hope, you bring out these crucial points when necessary. Thanks. #FiveDreams #WorldUnion @SavitriEraParty

That's of course a long term approach and it's not easy to implement nor there's any surity as regards the outcome. My proposal is at the conceptual level: whether it's feasible to abolish the Act and whether modern life of a Nation is possible without the existence of Companies?

Function of religion is "to establish a communication with what is invisible" and all outward paraphernalia are merely an aid. Those who seek to reverse this principle to gather votes won't reap dividends for ever but would do irreparable damage to both Democracy and the religion

India is a Democracy comprising of people belonging to divergent religions like Hindus and Muslims. Any section claiming superiority or special considerations on religious grounds is anomalous. Those highlighting religious identity for political mobilisation are on the wrong side

Engaging with current affairs on Twitter is like preparing for competitive exams. To see it as moulding of public opinion or a sign of participative Democracy is farfetched. The reason is, reason is at a discount and spirit of propaganda in adolescent's zeal finds full expression

Abolishing the Companies Act might give rise to new forms of ownership with transparency and responsibility. Gambling in the guise of stock trading also needs to be reined in. Seat of power must exercise control upon business and not the other way round, as is the case at present

Searching for pan-Indian icons is a futile exercise as India is a subcontinent with multiple Nation-States. Each State has its own distinct language, literature, history, culture, religion, and tradition. Overlooking these to paint a monochromatic picture fails to capture reality https://t.co/sqhhRMziMl

RSS is routinely accused of being anti-intellectual and it doesn't care but to give the devil his due, it kept an alternative version of history alive during the heyday of Congress-Marxists combine. Power bestows new legitimacy on RSS but its narratives need to be purged of lies.

This book, SRI AUROBINDO IN BARODA is a good one to understand the context of the epochal collaboration between Sri Aurobindo and Tilak; in fact Lal-Bal-Pal, which is crucial to later history, or even, what is unfolding today. https://t.co/8jXpSpsQzM @Gopanarya @SavitriEraParty
https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/1097598762913009671?s=19

This is the most authoritative work on the Veda and connotations pertaining its deities. Please read online, if you haven't yet. There are two allied volumes too. https://t.co/d5hC8EouO1 #SriAurobindo @TrueIndology @Gopanarya

Scholarship is always a work in progress. I'm yet to find anyone on Twitter who has a good grasp on Sri Aurobindo's works. Consequently perspectives as well as inferences continue to be skewed. That's one challenge which each educated Indian needs to take up. #BrunchBookChallenge

Power and commerce motivate people to be social while others are perceived as selfish. It also translates to an image of being moral, caring, and compassionate. The yoga of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo somehow bypasses tangentially such popular perspectives; so one must be tactful.

There was no Internet then, but Sri Aurobindo somehow had some competence in transmission of texts through thin air. Wrote a book on yoga by a deceased author, gave several speeches, dictated all guidance to his lawyer, and even is believed to have dictated Churchill's speech.

This brilliant thread tells the history but can't locate the invisible hand of Sri Aurobindo who later wrote [We welcome it all the more because it seems to be conceived in the same free and synthetic spirit as animates this Review. -Arya Aug 1914]. Tilak spoke about him in jail. https://t.co/MSOJX2pOP9
https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1097542910080249858?s=19

Every situation or event will have at least four different types of response; of the Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras and many others overlapping of course. The Veda brings out this distinction which unequivocally becomes the cornerstone of Sri Aurobindo's contention.

My original contributions to understanding or interpreting Sri Aurobindo can be summarised under a number of heads:
1) Against Hindutva, Mythology, & Astrology
2) Vedas against Rituals
3) Against Vivekananda
4) Espousing Modernity & Democracy
5) Nationhood to States & languages.

Misc. References:

Washing feet of mahatmas among the lowest strata/caste/varna of society is completely different from washing feet just because they are sanitation workers, that too by Raja at top is just misguided humility and spiritual outlook, Modi should first act like a Raja before anything

Indian literature and Indian Philosophy both will flourished by embracing the ideas of "Yeats".  - Prof. Margaret Mills Harper @MakrandParanspe https://t.co/TqA5GGVQmc
https://twitter.com/ShimlaIias/status/1099931679488118785?s=19

The Satyajit Ray-Mrinal Sen rivalry that made headlines | @TOI_Pdasgupta:If there is one other debate that has kept Kolkatans engaged as much as the one involving Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, it is abt the rift between Mrinal Sen & Satyajit Ray | #Films 
https://twitter.com/indiaonthe_move/status/1099846991616532480?s=19

Pre performance with Rangamma Didi, teachers, musicians and students at Music and Dance Festival Sri Aurobindo Ashram Delhi India, Children's Music School https://t.co/U3qvxdeXje
https://twitter.com/storydancer/status/1099881050862346240?s=19

VEDAS & UPANISHADS online courses begin 5 March - Contact elearn@gnosticcentre.com or call 9810052545 for details etc. https://t.co/gKXYPymRHP
https://twitter.com/Gnostic_Centre/status/1093012701528420352?s=19

Part-1-Talk by Dr. Ananda Reddy on 20-23 Dec'2018 (Living Within Camp-49) 'MAKE YOUR DESTINY': https://t.co/1Aa3AQujqt via @YouTube
https://twitter.com/SACARSADA183/status/1082510636796395521?s=19

1 Rainbow & the Other: Hindutva has become more mainstream https://t.co/QShhUT7DED
2 Savitri Era Learning Forum: 13 problems of Sankhya; Vedanta proposed Brahman https://t.co/nxt1MO2WxF
3 Aurora Mirabilis: To establish a communication with what's invisible https://t.co/dNqrOOTmQL
4 Evergreen Essays: Hostility of physicists to nonphysical plane https://t.co/g7yEOmgZaL
5 Savitri Era Political Action: It's ridiculous to ignore progress https://t.co/ZgNAVQ0VIe
6 Savitri Era Open Forum: Remember Vamadeva speaking of our forefathers https://t.co/tOhzGvDbGb 
7 Relation between authority and social compromise https://t.co/QVdfJzzvzV
8 Spreading awareness on Prenatal Education and conscious parenting in the light of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother https://t.co/eTq8VvrHps
9 Vedantic philosophy in a political context https://t.co/IokBSBn5BI
10 Savitri Era: Intellectual integrity is integral to Integral Yoga https://t.co/WmCIVWYfKY Posted by Tusar Nath Mohapatra @NathTusar Director, SELF, SRA-102-C #ShipraRiviera #Indirapuram #Ghaziabad #UttarPradesh 201014 
Savitri Era of those who adore, 
Om Sri Aurobindo & The Mother

[The argument that evolution implies involution was made by Swami Vivekananda with compelling logic] https://t.co/r924bsVCI0
Vivekananda’s doctored picture of Ramakrishna https://t.co/QBhGzd44Zy
Vivekananda uses the word involution exactly as in Theosophy https://t.co/4SWINOT5E4

[What interests me in #Hegel is not what he has to say about Spirit or reconciliation or the formation of a total system – Despite its #Joycean prose, it is a work worth studying carefully and returning to again and again as an endless source of ideas] -LB https://t.co/HKGuEIPEJ7

This #OdiaSong of course may climb much higher
[Akhi Maage Manjuri - Official Video | Local Toka Love Chokha | Babushan, Sunmeera 5,694,274 views Published on Aug 7, 2018 Singers- Babushan, Ananya Nanda  Lyrics- Bapu Goswami Music Director- Baidyanath Das] https://t.co/wgQZCrSlIs

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Location: Shipra Riviera, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh 201014, India

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Intellectual integrity is integral to Integral Yoga


Tweets in original by @SavitriEraParty and @NathTusar:
Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake on February 17, 1600. https://t.co/nVZQcsquGc

Every situation or event will have at least four different types of response; of the Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras and many others overlapping of course. The Veda brings out this distinction which unequivocally becomes the cornerstone of Sri Aurobindo's contention.

My original contributions to understanding or interpreting Sri Aurobindo can be summarised under a number of heads:
1) Against Hindutva, Mythology, & Astrology
2) Vedas against Rituals
3) Against Vivekananda
4) Espousing Modernity & Democracy
5) Nationhood to States & languages.

Accumulation of more and more memory can disorient a person and hence nature helps us to forget by erasing brain cells. If a joint family grows too big, then tragedies become everyday affair tormenting all its members. India with its abnormal level of population must get divided.

I don't watch TV but so many tweets against NDTV proves that it is serving the function of the principal Opposition party in a Democracy to its level best when the role of Parliament is actually getting increasingly eclipsed with the possibility of redundancy or even obsolescence.

"This meant a continuous thinking, a high and subtle and difficult thinking on several lines, and this strain, which we had to impose on ourselves, we were obliged to impose also on our readers," wrote #SriAurobindo but his followers unfortunately love to be at picture-book level

Prabhu Sri Aurobindo came along with a galaxy of geniuses: poets, philosophers, artists, and inventors to prepare the field for the Supramental consciousness. Many came before him too so that the contrast or tension becomes amplified. Need to understand this difference and forte.

It's always necessary to remember the shape of Indian map on August 15, 1947 to understand that India is not an integral whole and being deaf to regional self-determination is counterproductive. Graduating to a model like EU is the only way to avoid an ugly, USSR-like, situation.

That's not fair as we are talking about theory only. Each person has to find his way through the maze of propositions and interpretations; nothing is self-evident in this world, I presume.

Many philosophers of Jewish ancestry have displayed exemplary sensitivity owing to acquaintance with the religious texts whereas in India the Veda stands neglected despite Sri Aurobindo's valiant efforts for decoding its true connotations. This is one area where scholarship fails.

Life in the West is much more ordered and less complex than in India, I suppose, which perhaps is the reason for its philosophers like Levinas or Rawls to present such profound conceptions of man. But lack of adequate examination of Indian society is a drawback of their theories.

I'll be happy if you can locate some writings to show that someone has read Sri Aurobindo adequately. Quotation or inspiration can't be seen as sufficient ideological anchor. RSS in any case is accused to be confused. Still, your optimism itself should give hope. @singh_shreepal

Agree, but reverence for Vivekananda is fundamental to RSS ideology, a legacy of Golwalkar, himself. On the contrary, I'm of the opinion that Vivekananda like other popular gurus is a barrier or even antithetical to understand and appreciate Sri Aurobindo. https://t.co/X7CGFPqhOA

There is a reason why Congress, RSS, or other political forces are averse to Sri Aurobindo. Of course he doesn't command any vote bank but as an icon also no one is interested in him. Lack of awareness is the primary factor but no deep ideological engagement is major contributor.

Sri Aurobindo migrated to Puducherry in 1910 and Tamil helped him to untangle many knots in understanding the Veda. Indian languages have enormous power and potentialities for driving human excellences and creativity further in the path of Evolution. All they need is nationhood.

Took VRS at the age of 45 and engaged myself in many types of activities which would have been simply impossible had I continued with PNB till retirement. Developing skills for deriving enjoyment from diverse experiences is the key without of course earning money as top principle

Packing everything within 24 hours is the real problem. Jobs should be for 4 hours a day with every 4th day a holiday. Designing professions with ample considerations for quality of life and variety is important. Getting rid of the myth of gender equality is also equally crucial. https://t.co/kNWpoWIBdQ

Odia cinema: They live on https://t.co/DTsQRV7mzG Odia films trivia that will blow your mind, Odisha Sun Times May 10, 2016 Taranisen Pattnaik @TaraniTrotter How puritanism is hurting the cause of Odia, Odisha Sun Times Jun 11, 2018 Shyamanuja Das @OdiaCulture https://t.co/tV8jBhohLA

Eminently pertinent how @drsbasu2115 and @santoshk1 are interpreting Sri Aurobindo's various perspectives on the matter which need to be grappled with vigorously by academicians as well as those literate politicians. https://t.co/SfyzsFjwXT #FiveDreams #WorldUnion #SriAurobindo

So sagaciously summarized by @Janamejayan today which everyone must read a thousand times to get freed from the megalomania of a British Empire. https://t.co/SYKlz6sBhk #SriAurobindo #FiveDreams #WorldUnion

Outrage will die down after a few days but the appeal of languages won't. Respecting each language and coronating them with nationhood is the only lasting solution to the Colonial legacy we have inherited. Waking up to Sri Aurobindo's words on this score is an insightful pointer.

An excellent thread which should be mulled over over and over again in future LitFests instead of discussing inanities and focussing on fake celebrities. Really knowledgeable persons can invigorate discourse and show ways to creative destruction for a genuine benevolent situation https://t.co/5xz0iVZ67j

The Life Divine is obviously Sri Aurobindo's response to Evolution but draws basic principles from The Secret of the Veda further elaborated in The Human Cycle and The Ideal of Human Unity. Optimism for humanity turns environmental concerns for our planet significant severalfold.

The Synthesis of Yoga and Essays on the Gita by Sri Aurobindo are excellent for explication of concepts or ethical principles but debatable as texts with some central message or firm ontological framework. The Life Divine, duly revised and expanded by him, holds that rare honour.

Intellectual integrity is integral to Integral Yoga enunciated by The Mother & Sri Aurobindo. Devotional fervour often makes way for Overmental powers and forces but right intellectual conviction can ensure adequate insulation against such downfalls. Primacy of Aspiration pivotal

Embodied existence within a social circumstance entails dealing with objects and their utilitarian aspects. The Mother & Sri Aurobindo never denounce them and even insist on work as the apt locale for yoga but hoping for transformation through reforms and modifications not sound.

You want war? But how it's possible without more soldiers being killed? Mourning every morning?

Savitri Era: Patra is good, Mohapatra better https://t.co/HaixojPCl9 [give to our heart and mind a titan’s strength, a titan’s energy, to our soul and intelligence a god’s character and knowledge] #SriAurobindo #TheMother #TheLifeDivine #FiveDreams #WorldUnion #SAVITRI @NathTusar

The transmission of the teachings of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo is largely academic in nature. Their interdisciplinary implications rather fall mostly at the postgraduate level or above. https://t.co/PmxmQYNQEW #TheHumanCycle #TheIdealOfHumanUnity #TheRenaissanceInIndia #SAVITRI

Sri Aurobindo rewrote countless canons of Indian philosophy and psychology ably integrating them with thought currents of the day in the West. His synthesis verily is the acme of acumen that waits for a wider reception. https://t.co/irUF1E1uTe #TheLifeDivine #TheSynthesisOfYoga

No one should occupy office for more than two terms and twelve years in aggregate. Don't vote for those who have already served two terms.
Why maintain a separate IST and INR? Why can't India switch to GMT and adopt Euro? 24X7 life surely needs a common currency and single time.
I love reading Western philosophy but mercifully could not develop any attraction towards their fiction, movies, or music, not even poetry.
Why the Western music seems like a rollercoaster journey while our Hindi evergreen old movie songs are so neatly symmetrical is beyond me.
Zero attraction for TV serials, Cars, or Cricket is also something which I consider as a blessing. The time obviously is consumed by Twitter!
As a child I had promised to myself: No cosmetics and no narcotics which continues to be in force. So, many assume me to be ten years older.
Grey hair is also a good teacher. It alerts to be socially responsible so that one is saved from the temptation of stupidly playing younger.
Community life suffers a lot due to disproportionate reliance on cosmetics especially by women who feel younger & avoid normal conversation.
Savitri Era: Warp and woof of attraction and repulsion harnessing space and time
Savitri Era: Decoupling lifestyle choices from Religion, tradition, and Political parties
Posted by at  Location: Shipra Riviera, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh 201014, India

References:

[we must not confuse Sri Aurobindo’s concept of Hinduism which is beyond any institutional religion that we practise]

[we have to achieve a fourfold transformation: economic, social, cultural and spiritual. In this compilation of quotes from Sri Aurobindo’s writing, the prophet of the Life Divine reveals a glimpse of the ideals we have to realise in our future world.] MSS https://t.co/xyNCIjPplo

[Savitri Era Learning Forum (SELF): Buddhism says only Prakrti exists, Vēdānta says only Purusha exists https://t.co/MKAhsybRkY @vakibs @NathTusar https://t.co/ngz1JPZkwe
https://t.co/e7thyARUcU @loveofallwisdom

[The Quarrel of Reason With Itself: Essays on Hamann, Michaelis, Lessing, Nietzsche by James C. O'Flaherty http://t.co/LwzfRjeyvV via @amazon

[The psychological bases for tribalism persist even when people understand that their loyalty to their nation, skin color, god, or sports team is as random as the toss of a coin, writes Robert Sapolsky. https://t.co/git1yqazcG

[Gravitational waves will settle cosmic conundrum-Measurements of gravitational waves from approximately 50 binary neutron stars over the next decade will definitively resolve an intense debate about how quickly our universe is expanding, according to new… https://t.co/njhaqFicwi

[Philosophy: What exactly is a black hole?-What is a black hole? A philosopher shows that physicists use different definitions of the concept, depending on their own particular fields of interest. - https://t.co/egFJqRhJRm

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Location: Shipra Riviera, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh 201014, India

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Patra is good, Mohapatra is better


  • Tweets in original by @SavitriEraParty and @NathTusar


Lutyens' Delhi has assumed a Kafkaesque reputation over Twitter but most ignore that the Capital has since shifted to an attic in Mumbai.

All languages are basically permutations and combinations of a certain sounds and thus they are all related with many common words and rules of grammar. Sri Aurobindo pointed out that words have several meanings based on their roots which help to decipher hidden meanings of texts
Several words in your tweet are derived from Latin or Sanskrit and so they live in different forms. Most Indian languages are heavily indebted to Sanskrit; so it's not completely dead. But language is a need based thing and let it be learnt voluntarily without nursing any rancour

The hard reality is perhaps the other way round (TOWR) as I highlight in [Reimagining and Refashioning Integral Management by Tusar Nath Mohapatra, Director, Savitri Era Learning Forum (SELF) Ghaziabad https://t.co/ipuBggA9l7]. What we think is part of plan. Please have a look.

Compiling quotations is a very faulty method of understanding Sri Aurobindo. India's Rebirth made that blunder to misguide a whole generation. Hope, you delve more to form your own opinion like @vakibs who offered a different take on the matter. Denouncing Gandhi outright flawed.

Using Sri Aurobindo's observations against Gandhi has become the only relevance as if Gandhi is central to Sri Aurobindo's project. A part of Uttarpara Speech similarly is used umpteen times with mischievous intent. Some of the Tweeter celebrities have ulterior motives to push.

My plea is simple. With the advent Social Media, myriad perceptions float around and it's difficult to check veracity of competing narratives. So each one must be extra careful to find the truth for himself instead of falling prey to the temptation of disseminating dubious themes

I don't find much difference in the concept of ahimsa of Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo. Both subscribed to Constitutional methods and values of Modernity. Sri Aurobindo's views on Human Unity and #WorldUnion are epitome of peace and harmony. You may like to recheck.

Well, ideological ambivalence of the present govt now borders on irrelevance and that's one reason I support it. Glorification of the past needs to be jettisoned and a modern and rational approach needs to be ushered in in all spheres. Things like Reservation must be thrown away.
https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/1090992768921481217?s=19

I have read them all and feel that all these are irrelevant to our present circumstances. No need to harking back to Mythology or fictional ethics. Areas where Sri Aurobindo is relevant is to be guided by his interpretation of the Veda; people need to be freed from empty Rituals.

My suggestions are a hint only. I'm glad that you disagree and hope that you pursue an independent discovery of Sri Aurobindo's overall message. Thanks. Might be, I agree but I hold on to this view with full responsibility. You may attempt to write a longer post or paper for general information on this issue and it would be in academic interest. Thanks.

I reiterate that I have read them all; at least no textual poverty or malnourishment here, but it's a question of perception which I derive from several authors and commentators. I urge you to challenge this view and examine the issue in an article. Writing brings out dimensions.

At one point in one's intellectual growth, one must be willing to overcome polemics and enter hard-nosed academics. Perhaps, you have to consult several volumes of secondary literature to access alternative perspectives. A simple search of Google books opens so many such shocks.

No evading at all; I stand by what I say. Born on August 15, Sri Aurobindo is an undisputed harbinger of modern values ushered in by Bengal Renaissance and left his body once the Indian Constitution was drafted and approved. As a critic, his sweep is wide ranging and prescriptive

Present India, though a collage of over a dozen linguistic nations, is a Democracy with implicit Modernity. Development similarly implies Science, Technology, as well as common sense. Kumbha Mela comes from culture, tradition, and religion. Important to know primacy of Democracy.

People in general are anxious to know about the future and astrologers exploit this weakness. Interestingly, those boasting of critical reason too fall prey to this game when renowned philosophers make predictions through sophisticated theory. Past patterns are not good pointers.

Although our planet moves along an orbit around the sun, it's never at the same location as the galaxy itself keeps moving/expanding. The concept of rta and rtu signifying order and repetition therefore is terribly hard to explain. So, both chaos and fractal laws seem to operate.

The notion of nationality and citizenship belongs to the past. India must make its borders free and welcome anyone who wants to visit, stay, or vote. In the age of Internet, geographical stipulation for nationality is of diminishing relevance. Sure recipe for Nobel peace for Modi

Democracy in India has travelled in a topsy-turvy fashion but is still considered as an important contribution. Human nature, in general, is incompatible with demands of Democracy and hence nurturing it is part of education and ethics. Further how chain of events shape it matters

It's downright ludicrous the way the name of Sri Aurobindo is being bandied about in the context of the current situation in Bengal. Sri Aurobindo stands for much loftier things and no one is willing to even mention those. How best India can be a model Democracy is the challenge.

Thanks for the suggestion but it's difficult to take any anonymous handle seriously without being aware of its credentials. However, I'm willing to change my views if someone's writing will convince me. No such scholarship on Sri Aurobindo is attempted by anyone from the RW camp.

It's well known that "Sri Aurobindo Ashram is not a religious body or a monastery" but was conceived as a home for seekers free from worries for material necessities. Experience however shows that the experiment has failed as a sustainable model for flowering of human excellence.

Auroville may seem more practical and close to what Sri Aurobindo wrote in The Life Divine and The Human Cycle, or visualised in his poems or even plays, but the hard reality is drastically otherwise. Both Ashram and Auroville display dismal power play in the garb of spirituality

Enthusiasm about Hinduism and its glory as Sanatan Dharma is a common refrain but Democracy as it has evolved in the West involves many qualities that The Mother & Sri Aurobindo valued. Though conceptually Vedic in origin, these qualities are hard to be found in anyone at present

Relinquishing power voluntarily after two terms (like the two children formula or two innings in Cricket) should be the norm otherwise the voters have the responsibility to enforce the same as they have done in the recently held State elections. Restoring Democracy a sacred duty.

Fine. My point is, you must convince me why I should desist from what I write; on what superior ground you say that? In fact I'm in search for learning from someone but unfortunately haven't found anyone on Twitter. If you disclose your intellectual accomplishments that'd be good

Political and economic framework of Sri Aurobindo Ashram is not on a secure foundation as a result of which individuals suffer from survival instinct and avoidable dependence. Almost akin to the slavish mentality of members in a political party. Only values of Democracy can heal.

A sadhak also votes and must apply his conscience without surrendering to adverse elements; the Kshatriya aspect comes into play there. The logical extension of it can mean full scale fight for democratic rights and values which obviously is not outside of sadhana or spirituality

Sri Aurobindo has been aptly described as a Himalayan range; so each one has a limited view. That Modernity etc. are "antithesis" of Sri Aurobindo is a popular but superficial reading which I encourage you to revise. I recommend: Sri Aurobindo and Karl Marx by D.P. Chattopadhyaya.

Scholarship has to be countered by scholarship, i.e., by publishing books and journal articles and not merely by ranting. You may not be equal to the task but as long as convincing alternative narratives are not available, I have the luxury of holding on to the view you despise.

Okay. You have almost composed the abstract of a possible paper by amply problematising the subjects under focus. You have a definite idea which you have to ague systematically in several paragraphs. Just expand by describing different terms and topics and it can be a good paper.

Certain texts and temples are believed to be self-evident truths and the younger generation must free itself from such superstition. Since science has failed so far to explain any final configuration of our existence, diverse speculations compete to fill the space. Caution needed

Sri Aurobindo published The Life Divine during 1939-40. A book of pure philosophy, it makes the whole of Western philosophy obsolete. It also supersedes all streams of ancient Indian philosophy. Universities in India, unfortunately, are not allowing it to be studied in colleges.

Sri Aurobindo's interpretation of the Veda at one stroke alters all strands of received wisdom in India. Rituals and idols no longer enjoy any scriptural justification. Such a system of symbols, though available in Astrological literature, remains buried under mundane predictions

Educated Indians are reluctant to give much weightage to Sri Aurobindo but he has redefined philosophy, religion, and politics in unprecedented ways. Then his poems and plays seek to transform aesthetic pleasure into profound creativity with the potential of materialising harmony

Religion traditionally has been a hostage of business but Modernity promoted culture to loosen the grip. Now culture itself is an instrument of world wide commerce while education caters to the needs of industry. And all these vested interests are amplified by media with impunity

Sri Aurobindo's relevance in this scenario is building a metaphysical bulwark for religion concerning the whole human species. His call for collaboration or a proactive approach towards transformation warrants basic preparedness and receptivity for which scholarship is essential.

It's true that individuals are not free and their ethics is moulded by the demands of profession or big Corporations. In such a situation, being awaken to Evolutionary imperatives is far fetched. The Mother & Sri Aurobindo however are most optimistic about overcoming this hurdle.

Please concentrate on Sri Aurobindo's writings so that the need for rewards is no longer dominant or relevant. Very immersion in Savitri can itself be the means and the end. Just a suggestion. Thanks.

Sri Aurobindo is concerned about freedom and fulfilment; he delves into diverse literature of the West and the East. He keeps a watch on contemporary philosophy and science; writes an epic between epochal World Wars. And reminds his countrymen, with a wink, as it were, August 15.

If “The classic symbol of the Enlightenment is simply light – truth emerging from darkness,” then Sri Aurobindo, by revealing the true meaning of "Go" as light in his The Secret of the Veda, performs the greatest liberating act which the Hindutva obscurantists continue to ignore.

Sri Aurobindo went through diverse experiences, both mundane and sublime, before writing his mature works like The Life Divine. Thus, he is much unlike Spinoza, Nietzsche, or Kant but can be compared with Dante, to some extent; and his futuristic ideas can't be dismissed lightly.

It may be added that, despite some negative aspects, it's profitable to focus on the tremendous educative contributions of Mill, Macaulay, Max Müller, et al during a critical period of Indian history of which thinkers like Vivekananda, Tagore, or Sri Aurobindo are beneficiaries.

If the Amar Chitra Katha generation couldn't reach at Sri Aurobindo it's a colossal loss. Glorifying the past is good but awakening to Vedic Evolutionary vistas is significantly more important and worth the while. By all accounts, Be Indian means Be Sri Aurobindian, knowledgewise

Savitri Era Party has been consistently campaigning for a reappraisal of the Nehruvian consensus vis-à-vis Hindutva omnibus so that what is lacking - as pointed out by Sri Aurobindo - comes to the fore and becomes part of public discourse. This is being stoutly resisted & ignored

Again, everything is not dark during those 900 years and records show highly civilising endeavours even surpassing many spots in the West. Being sympathetic and appreciative of that also is important and a more balanced view of the distant past. In other words, it's progressive.

@bijay_TNIE Your father had advised me to read The Life Divine at Sundargarh in 1984 and I'm always grateful to him for that. Thanks. @skchaki

From Plato to Marx, Utopian visions are part of human civilisation but what Sri Aurobindo delineates in the last two chapters of The Life Divine belongs to a considerably different wavelength. He alludes to a top-down mode of change through flowering of Supramental consciousness.

A section is overactive to restrict Sri Aurobindo to meditation, yoga, and the traditional concepts of Ashram while another seeks to bind him to old religious templates and texts. So, Savitri Era Party has been agressively disseminating his political predictions like #WorldUnion.

My father's name is Chintamani the meaning of which I never bothered about except the intriguing Bilwamangal fable. A gem of white colour with the potential of fulfilling thoughts and wishes; all come into life when we apply Sri Aurobindo's interpretation with white being purity.

Sapta chatustaya is presented as of crucial importance in Sri Aurobindo's teaching but he avoided recommending any system or method. Reliance on forms or physicality is one of its features but The Mother & Sri Aurobindo have always stressed on the descent of higher consciousness.

Keeping track of people and events is part of modern day living and add to it persons from history plus characters from mythology, legends, fiction, and movies. Thus, bothering about others may be quite normal but The Mother & Sri Aurobindo ask for concentrating on own evolution.

Competition is said to be the cornerstone of modern economic system but what reigns is mafia, monopolies, or cartels with govt association. So Capitalism like Democracy remains a chimera since both are inconsistent with human nature. Liberty-wallahs should revise theory suitably.

Surendra Nath Jauhar speaks of his Supreme Discovery of The Mother during a chance visit to Puducherry along with Dr. Indra Sen. On three separate occasions, subsequently, he was debarred by The Mother from visiting the nearby Ashram of Sri Ramana Maharshi https://t.co/ABNDMvgasB

Despite democratic pretensions, politics, media, education, & leisure are all hostage to a pervasive feudal culture. Instead of Marxist angst & alienation, a celebratory engrossing with Heideggerian inauthenticity & trivia seems to be the order of the day. https://t.co/WMEvswc9iT

If Augustine can be mentioned, Sri Aurobindo deserves a glance too. Sri Aurobindo has attempted to reconcile ontological conundrums beyond religion in consonance with science. So, any philosophical quest can’t really be satisfied without "The Life Divine." https://t.co/QEKCof2rx2

Ramalila is on and Ravan is busy playing his ferocious best when the actor's mother arrives to chide him loudly for an unprovisioned home: Dekha Rabana chahani, tene ghara padichhi achhuani. This joke in Odia amply summarises the futility of most of our priorities or stupidities.

Savitri Era Religion has its boundaries clear: Savitri Era of those who adore, Om Sri Aurobindo & The Mother. Those who harbour extraneous affinities are undoubtedly trojan horses. So hobnobbing with them in the hubbub of SM shouldn't be dismissed lightly. https://t.co/KUqDRdyyie

Political situation in India is too complex to make any kind of prediction but the usual fault lines must not be taken as firm indicators. Savitri Erans, nonetheless, are a minuscule minority who are aware of the decisive role played by The Mother & Sri Aurobindo in World War II.

The Life Divine by Sri Aurobindo had its completion last month in 1919 and nothing more profound or epochal has been published during the last one hundred years. Educated Indians must realise its significance as the most potent soft power and spread awareness of it in all spheres

Reading Sri Aurobindo's books certainly requires a great deal of patience and persistence but it's commensurately rewarding. Understanding future Evolution and its Vedic impulsion is something unique that #SriAurobindo brings to the table surpassing past philosophical frameworks.

You are a senior student of Sri Aurobindo and his #ThirdDream of #WorldUnion should be the guiding principle for our actions in which India has a central as well as critical role to play. All religions belong to the past but dollops of culture and tradition has vitiated education.

Nationalism rhetoric inculcates parochialism in the young and insulates them from more liberating thoughts. Political parties interested in votes exploit such weaknesses but the task is to overcome narrow ideological avenues to discover wider vistas represented by Varuna in Veda.

Assuming that RSS has evolved a lot during the last five years, it should be closer to Sri Aurobindo's vision than Congress but Nehruvian consensus retains a more universalist outlook, at least in theory. Modi, by clutching on to Gandhi, is trying to represent that aspect as well

The underlying unity is the dominant principle of organising the future society through mutuality and harmony, assures Sri Aurobindo in #TheLifeDivine although such a prospect is obviously far away from present realities. "This mire must harbour the orchid and the rose," #SAVITRI


  • Quotations and external sources: 


[Sri Aurobindo wrote three incomplete drafts of a commentary on the Isha Upanishad that he called “The Life Divine”... THE LIFE DIVINE first appeared in fifty-four monthly instalments in the philosophical review Arya between August 1914 and January 1919.] https://t.co/JhiDqwK5NX

[Sanjay Rath - 2000 - (1) Swarga Loka (Heaven): There are four types of Mani.. a. Chinta-Mani of white color adorned by Brahma. b. Kaustubha Mani of the color of the Lotus in bloom worn by Vishnu. c. Rudra Mani adorned by Shiva. d. Shyamantak Mani of brilliant light blue color]

[One cannot imagine a scenario without the Vedas because there is no way to invent a teaching about our duties out of direct experience,... The Veda is our only access to the ought. Either one follows it, or there is no way to know about one’s duties.] -EF https://t.co/sKd1vgumGh

I faintly remembers or even I may be wrong that somewhere Aurobindo expounds eloquently, profoundly that American spiritual significance. I myself believe they are superior among the nations just because their notion of freedom, individuality, equality etc

It needs to be called out that Sri Aurobindo did not reject Gandhiji in his entirety. He rejected some critical flaws in Gandhiji's philosophy and approach which were detrimental to both India's freedom struggle and territorial integrity and to the establishment of new truth.
Agreed. SA has categorically stated that. Gandhi represented a partial truth. He criticised him because there was another more broader manifestation of truth trying to establish itself on earth and some of Gandhihi's rigid adherence was standing in the way.

"We really don’t have a coherent way of conceptualising evil in our secular, rationalist culture."
The best books on evil, a #readinglist by author @adamhaslett https://t.co/JA0S62h1gq

[though both Sri Aurobindo and The Mother warned against a cult around them, they themselves encouraged it... Sri Aurobindo himself deified The Mother and vice versa. The Penguin Sri Aurobindo Reader, 1999 Edited by Makarand Paranjape, a critical insider.] https://t.co/3lMRw1k0kf

Sri Aurobindo's musings on the Idea of Free Nationality

"Many of the specific societal pressures that induce trust are as old as civilisation ... What has changed in modern society is scale. Today we need to trust more people than ever before, further away than ever before." @schneierblog https://t.co/sqHK7AcOts

[Calibrating Western Philosophy for India: Rousseau, Derrida, Deleuze, Guattari, Bergson and Vaddera Chandidas
A Raghuramaraju -2019- This book proposes a new way of reading modern Western philosophers in the Indian context. It questions the colonial methodology, or the practice]

[we -or the superman/woman- will come to experience it not as the linear progression of time but rather in its simultaneity of past, present, future. Sri Aurobindo uses Supermind as a vehicle to reconcile history and spirit, the temporal with the eternal.] https://t.co/Rxco3R3VM0

[As Sri Aurobindo states in one of his unfinished commentaries on the Upanishads, Smriti (Intuition) is the link between Vijnana (Knowledge by Identity) and Prajnana (apprehension) because Smriti is innate perception; it is the latent memory of the truth.] https://t.co/VXsDrulvIN

"If we’re using optics as a key figure for how people think about revolution then Newton gives us another word: ‘Query’, the idea of questioning, investigating, of opening up problems to people at large." @Princeton Prof. Sophie Gee on the Enlightenment: https://t.co/RxhDLnWzpn

[ ... it always amused him when people said Sri Aurobindo was simply writing in the Victorian style of his day. He said the undulating waves of the words reminded him much more of the ancient Greek philosophers’ style that Sri Aurobindo had loved so much.] https://t.co/2dKrYo2y2c

[Their recitation builds in a mysterious way an absorbing ambiance of silence that plunges yet into a deeper quiet in a massiveness of sound; they throng even as in booming urgency the pleas would press themselves and insist the materialisation of the boon] https://t.co/B3wcjLYMef

[persistence and patience, understanding and goodwill, and providing an example of action from the state of oneness are the powers that each person who awakens at this juncture needs to put into practice. Speak truth, act with honor, hold goodwill and compassion in one’s heart..] https://t.co/5b2asJGwQA

[I had written a reply to Adhar Chandra Das’s 
criticism of a book by Sri Aurobindo in the Calcutta Review. On going through it, Sri Aurobindo added a line: The physical mind also thinks. It opened a vista for me.] - M.P. Pandit https://t.co/5yzSZKLZWc Pandit's books @LotusPress

Patra is good, Mohapatra is better.
[She felt one has to be a fit vessel, patra as mentioned in Hindu spiritual lore, to receive the energy. The vessel should be worthy of the content that comes. She would certainly want to be a worthy vessel to receive..] https://t.co/Tb3yzUvGHl

@SKS_Mumbai [give to our heart and mind a titan’s strength, a titan’s energy, to our soul and intelligence a god’s character and knowledge]

Savitri Era: March 29, 1914 marks a new alchemy https://t.co/7pMdHLnQ4A @SavitriEraParty

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