The Advent

Ashram, Samadhi and Matrimandir
Flower offerings, lighting incence sticks
And prayers and meditations before
The photographs of the Twin Avatars.

Darshan days and the long serpentine queues
The queit waiting for food in Dining Hall
Even the Playground, site to meditate
Collective Yoga, religious fervour.

Obeissance, remember and offer
Aspiration, rejection, surrender
Reciting Savitri as a scripture
Life Divine and Synthesis of Yoga.

Songs and Mantras and Matri-vandanas
To work by feeling all life is yoga
Mother’s picture on the study table
Rings, lockets, keyrings, hankys and sarees

Flag, marchpast, the salute and the slogans
Stop press! We are the Savitri Erans.

A satellite and Savitri

A satellite is a technological wonder. One simply becomes awe-struck to think how much of human intelligence and imagination has gone into manufacturing it, or, any other scientific invention, for that matter.

Savitri, similarly, is a speculational wonder. To dismiss it as mere poetry and see its imagery as nebulous fantasy is too facile. Savitri contains some concrete conceptions of worlds and ideas that are too distant from our present stretch of intellection.

A satellite, therefore, admire we must, but also grant a similar attention to Savitri to probe clues concerning, say, physics and biology. Broad strokes also matter and scientific details must not elude us for there is no better source-book for Consciousness Studies than Savitri.

Sorry, thank you!

The recipe invented by The Mother and Sri Aurobindo and perfected in the course of 60 years (1914-1973) is absolutely unique and unprecedented. No other religion or philosophy has given such a sure-fire concoction. It is certainly futile on our part to speculate over its formulation or what it foresees.

It is all the more foolish when people attempt to combine it with their own fond formulae in order to present a superior prescription. With that they seek to put themselves at par with The Mother and Sri Aurobindo.

The Mother was always averse to take the name of Sri Aurobindo with someone else for the sake of comparision. Therefore, the Yogic-vision of the great Masters has to be accepted on “as is where is” basis and “take it or leave it” terms. Unsolicited benevolence of repairing the recipe is absolutely imbecile and must be resisted. #

No one can serve two masters

Barindranath Chaki said... Hi Tusar, I will always agree to work with you and others for such a cause, for the cause fighting for Truth. Opposition to the Teaching of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother is but natural. It comes from the old world of darkness and ignorance and falsehood and half-truth. We are for Truth that Sri Aurobindo stands for. We must have to fight, to bring the Transformation to mankind and the Earth, as willed by the Supreme. Barin 26-09-2006 11:17 AM

Tusar N Mohapatra said... But how to tackle the opposition from within? When insiders are busy worshiping multiple gods and acting as Trojan horses, then to think of Truth is sheer phantasy. 7:38 AM

Manibhai's razor

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Manibhai's razor

Something atrocious is being perpetrated by the Sri Aurobindo Society newsletter. Religious festivals and the Deities are being given undue importance and instead of appreciating the writings of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo about them in abstraction, they are presented literally. It is not unusual to see the picture of the Deities along with The Mother’s and Sri Aurobindo’s being worshipped in some Centres of the Society. Audio CDs & Cassettes are also being promoted.

This kind of revisionism is really astonishing. The two quotations from The Mother cited in the very first page of A Practical Guide to Integral Yoga are quite unequivocal. Then why such compromises are being made? Is it due to infiltration from the RSS?

When Advani extolled the virtues of secularism by praising Jinnah, he was reprimanded. Now, when Comrade Subhas Chakraborty said he was "first a Hindu and a Brahmin and then a Communist", he too is facing the music. Such kind of Puritanism is also needed to be enforced in the Savitri Era religion. Otherwise our dream of a Supramental Age will always remain as a chimera.

The hour of collective action

You are free to search on any topic and read the original writings of The Mother, Sri Aurobindo and their direct disciples by visiting the Sri Aurobindo Ashram website. # posted by Tusar N Mohapatra : 8:41 PM

The resistance to Sri Aurobindo's thought is operating at several levels and they are to be combated accordingly. Not only ignorance and inertia, but also a deep nexus of Political, Cultural, and Religious antagonism is at work aided by technology and management techniques. Not to wake up to such challenges would be imprudent as well as indolence.

Such an urgency warrants a multi-pronged approach involving multiple talents. Savitri Era foresees such a solidarity and calls for an action programme at the international level. There is a large pool of highly educated and multi-skilled personnel devoted to the ideals of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo who can close their ranks. If people are getting organised purely for destructive purposes, why can't the Savitri Erans come forward to work together towards a positive goal?

Savitri Era at war

Barindranath Chaki said... Thank you, Tusar, for this posting. I praise your endless energy and relentless war, like a true Karmayogi. Barin 18-09-2006 11:52 PM

Tusar N Mohapatra said... So kind of you, Chaki babu, for the words of encouragement. During the past one year I have hardly received any feedback except perhaps the following two:

From: "naresh kumar" To: tusarnmohapatra@mail.com Subject: Regarding your blog Savitri era Date: Sat, 7 Jan 2006 02:44:19 -0600 Dear Tusar,

I browsed through your blog about Sri Aurobindo's work and it struck me as an effort to disabuse the general public at large about a perceived inaccessibility of his works, - whether it is owing to his (perceived) difficult diction or owing to a lack of the necessary orientation to receive his ideas the way he intended for his readers, - and provide an orientation that could help read the works.

From: "M Alan Kazlev" To: tusarnmohapatra@mail.com Subject: Integral Transformation - new blog Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2006 08:48:41 +1000 Dear Tusar,

I've been very impressed by your Savitri Era Learning Forum for some time now. m alan

Bushfire over the remarks of the Pope

Wake up to Supramental superscope.

Everyone needs a good religion

And Savitri Era is the right one.

Savitri Era of those who adore

Om Sri Aurobindo and The Mother

Be Indian, be Aurobindian

The recent controversy over the singing of Vande Mataram had a positive facet in that the name of Sri Aurobindo reverberated in the Blogosphere and his translation of the poem appeared in a number of sites. But the fact that Sri Aurobindo himself is a great poet and creator of the epic, Savitri was hardly mentioned by any.

Reading a sample of such blogs can be a frustrating experience. Instead of delving a little bit deeper and talking about the teachings or writings, often only a skin-deep nationalism is invoked. While such chauvinism might be offering our youth their quota of self-esteem, the kind of intellectual lethargy that it perpetuates is really frightening.

Reading and discussing the works of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo can be a refreshing exercise. If one really takes pride in being an Indian, then he must be willing to undertake a journey to discover the Himalayan heights of Sri Aurobindo.

Convert to Savitri Era

History very seldom records the things that were decisive but took place behind the veil; it records the show in front of the curtain. --Sri Aurobindo

Spirituality respects the freedom of the human soul, because it is itself fulfilled by freedom; and the deepest meaning of freedom is the power to expand and grow towards perfection.... --Sri Aurobindo

posted by Gagdad Bob at 8:37 AM One Cosmos

Clinical psychologist, spiritual aspirant, and author of the much acclaimed book, One Cosmos Under God, Robert W. Godwin (Gagdad Bob) has remembered the words of Sri Aurobindo in his blog One Cosmos on the anniversary of 9/11. Nothing can be more appropriate than this.

At a time when all the Semitic religions are busy engaged in internecine warfare, the war of words is also begetting a lot of fresh insights as regards civilizational crises. And, Savitri Era must fish in the troubled waters. There can't be a better moment than this to call upon all the people in the world to convert to Savitri Era. Bereft of any theological lacunae, Savitri Era can usher in peace and harmony in the hearts of people as well as in the world. [TNM1296mmyp]

Savitri Era is unputdownable

Sri Aurobindo, wrote Prof. Sisir Kumar Maitra in 1942, has accomplished the “transfer of the leadership in philosophy from the West to India.” But what we witness today in 2006 is something entirely different. Why?

The whole scenario is not devoid of politics and what is at issue is not philosophy but hegemony. In pursuit of that, there has been constant shifting of goal posts and resorting to gerrymandering. Marginal items have come to occupy the mainstream space in philosophy while the basic metaphysical concerns rank as subaltern. Why?

Sri Aurobindo gave the most full-proof philosophy in the entire human history, but the Westerners are unwilling to accept him at the top. Pseudo-philosophers are lapped up and their books sell in plenty almost as a conspiracy to eclipse Sri Aurobindo. He is discounted simply as a mystic or a revivalist, instead. Why?

Because Sri Aurobindo is an Indian and American hubris can’t digest this. Numerous charts and complicated graphics are being devised in pathetic attempts to cook up all-encompassing philosophies. Many of Sri Aurobindo’s innovations are being recycled. Even then, success eludes such enterprises. Why?

For Sri Aurobindo, as Dr Maitra decreed, stands tall on merit. Every intellectual, every journal and every University will have to swallow this cruel pill. No amount of racial or colonial resistance can suppress the supremacy of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy. The whole world, whether today or tomorrow, must turn to it where all the whys are answered. [TNM696MMYP]

Purnadvaita or Integral Advaita

Sri Aurobindo, in his The Life Divine, has synthesized all the exant schools of Vedanta and given the most comprehensive resolution integrating cues from the Western metaphysics and modern science. He has also restored the umbilical cord of the Vedantic exegesis with the Vedas. For instance, his strong difference with Adi Sankara over the interpretation of Ishavasyam is interesting.

• The Upanishads by Sri Aurobindo [1]. Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. 1972
• The Upanishads Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry # wikipedia

The words work wonders

From: "Tusar N. Mohapatra" tusarnmohapatra@mail.com
To: "Antony Lodoiska" alodoiska@swasteetech.com from Mauritius

Subject: Re: Eastern Philosophy http://sanatan.intnet.mu

Date: Sun, 02 Jul 2006 11:48:41 -0500

With 54 springs(93-39) in hand, you can work wonders for yourself.
The trick is to cut through the clutter and confusion.
Proceed through the process of elimination.
Keep aside your past baggage for a while.
Forget all your questions and doubts.
Read the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.
Be ready to be shocked by your own transformaton.
Bon Voyage

Savitri Era is our religion

Faith in an unseen divinity and feeling loyal to it by a large number of people is religion. It grows by a gradual process, and over a period of time acquires one or more cultural distinctiveness. By offering an umbrella for identity, it also develops into a strong political conglomerate.

Apart from the teaching, the name, the picture, the life-story, and the place also evoke strong emotional feelings. And then, the words and their various interpretations hold no importance. People in general long for safety, security and unburdening. The aesthetic or intellectual satisfaction is aspired for by a select.

If one is possessed by a feeling that his path has great benefits and others should also follow it; and then he goes about to find various ways and means to propagate it, it is religion. Recommending a book or a blog is not all that harmlessly rational. Rather, a scheming mind operates at the behest of the faith, cult or religion.

And what’s wrong with it? A good Product or a great Brand needs to be endorsed. Of course, the conviction level of the person is important; there must be intellectual honesty, one would demand. But conviction, itself, is irrational, recall Barthes: The Pleasure of the Text.

One is largely driven by the past baggages and is tormented too. A theory of everything is absolutely useless for any particular individual, and hence, is useless for all. The individual needs a theory for oneself depending upon his age, stage, affection and affinity. That found, there is no dearth of pastimes and distractions.

Bertrand Russell in his History of Western Philosophy compares Marxism with Judaism/Christianity under 7 parameters to decree that the former is also a faith. And I think, Savitri Era more than fulfils all the seven. Sri Aurobindo and his Followers

+ + +

Web search engines are wholly dependent on correct spelling, and hence it is important to standardize certain expressions:

• Sri Aurobindo: to take care to always use Sri (as in his signature)
• The Mother: and not the Mother
• The Mother and Sri Aurobindo: in that order (as in the photograph) as far as possible, instead of Sri Aurobindo and the The Mother.
• Mira: as Sri Aurobindo has re-christened her in the mantra, Om Sri Aurobindo Mira , and nor Mirra.
• Aurobindian: Although Amal Kiran has much defended his introducing of the term, Aurobindonian, it does not cut ice. The last O in Sri Aurobindo is not necessary for pronunciation of the name, and hence a simple, Aurobindian is good for all seasons. Aurobindean, is also another dispensable expression.

Sri Aurobindo is not a mere Hindu revivalist

Pondicherry has been renamed as Puducherry. But the pet name Pondy is likely to linger in popular conversation. Sri Aurobindo arrived in Pondy on April 4, 1910 and The Mother on March 29, 1914. Together, they launched a monthly philosophical journal called, Arya on August 15, 1914. Gradually, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram also took shape. And that is how a tiny port-town like Pondy became world famous.

The major and mature writings of Sri Aurobindo were serialized in Arya that appeared regularly till January 15, 1921. Of course, many of those thoughts in seed-form can be traced in the writings of pre-Pondy days. Many present day writers liberally use extracts from his writings of the pre-Pondy days to show that he was a Hindu nationalist leader. That the context was to fight the Britishers by mobilizing and motivating the public is easily forgotten.

Sri Aurobindo remained aloof from active politics during the last 40 years of his life spent in Pondy. In this period, along with The Mother, he created an integral vision for the future of humanity. His words have spread to every corner of the world and he is counted among the top-rung philosophers. So, to show him as a mere Hindu revivalist is truancy to his true legacy. It is hoped that the present-day scholars and writers would desist from such intellectual dishonesty.

Integral minus Veda

Joint venture of two of top minds of our times has shortlisted certain "spiritual lines" in quest of creating "an integral spirituality." The list is appended, but surprisingly, Veda, the fountainhead of all spiritual aspirations is not mentioned.

Marko Rinck Says: July 27th, 2006 at 2:29 pm

1. Identity- Advaita
2. Space or emptiness- Buddhists
3. Pearl/Soul- Sufism, Gnostics, Daoism
4. Love- Sufism, Christianity
5. Compassion- Buddhism
6. Energy- Yoga, Daoism, Kashmir Shaivism
7. Will- Gurdijeff
8. Peace- Christianity
9. Consciousness- Advaita, Yoga
10. Strength- Shao-lin, Shamanism
11. Awareness- Buddhism, Krishnamurti
12. Dynamism and creativity- Shaivism
13. Knowingness- Gnostics, Ancient Greeks, Jnana Yoga

alan kazlev Says: July 27th, 2006 at 5:57 pm

1. Interaction with Nature Kingdoms- Neopaganism, Shamanism, some New Age
2. Interaction with Subtle Realms- Tantra, Hermetic occultism, Shamanism, etc
3. Pleasure / Ananda- Tantra, Taoist sexual yoga
4. Transformation of Matter- Lurianic Kabbalah, Aurobindo and the Mother

The integralism achieved by the yogic vision of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo cannot be bettered

M. Alan Kazlev from Australia of Kheper.net fame, in a series of essays published in the Integral world, has given a clarion call to the New Agers not to remain fettered by the intellectual exhortations of Ken Wilber and his ilk, and instead, be anchored to the spiritually elevating transformational synthesis accomplished by The Mother and Sri Aurobindo. This firm stand, coming from a sincere seeker who has all along endeavoured to compare and contrast various esoteric and spiritual systems, must undoubtedly be seen as a major milestone in the meandering course of the integral movement.

Large-scale publishing of innumerable self-help books, both fiction and non-fiction, in the past fifty years has created a readership which requires to be fed with a continuous supply of novelty. Just like the latest movie, new authors are being lapped up in the manner people fall for the reigning fashion. Of course, there is no other way to know the worth of a book than to read it, but the choices are being made more on the basis of some uncanny affinity and endorsement rather than any considered rationality.

Obviously, it is too much to expect that a democracy of readers, so constituted, would choose to vote for the worn out names of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo. Nor, is it an easy prospect that the vast masses owing allegiance to established religions would allow the right of way to the vision of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo. The intelligentsia is still less dependable, engrossed as they are in contemporary nit-pickings.

Alan has rightly reminded that the teachings, personality, and spiritual presence of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo as charismatic teachers is already there. Further, sincere work conforming to their ideals are being carried out across the globe in fields as divers as education and environment. One can surmise that it would grow in a slow but steady pace. Nonetheless, there can certainly be some catalytic action to shore up momentum.

Alan has called for a fresh start for the integral movement with The Mother and Sri Aurobindo as the central focus. But the call of the day is perhaps to leap forth to the next level, call it orthodox or foundational. Many are under the illusion that they can dish out a new synthesis by integrating the different established systems like Sri Aurobindo’s. How easily it is forgotten that, the integralism achieved by the yogic vision of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo cannot be bettered. In fact, no egghead should venture to tinker with their teachings.

And, finally, let’s call a spade a spade. How long would we dither to call the grace of our beloved Masters and their teachings, a religion? It is a religion, make no mistake about it, and the adherents need to put their act together to help it take root. No myths or legends, ours is a stark 20th century faith based on the most comprehensive philosophy. This is a grand testament of universality, take it or leave it. And, this is the greatest ever manifesto for man; seekers of the world unite!

The word, integral has already been besmirched. So, should we call our religion Savitri Era, instead? [SE-MMYP, TNM: July 27, 2006]

The contingency, the contextuality and the historicity

Tusar N Mohapatra said... One very unique and significant aspect of Sri Aurobindo's insights is the concept that our core and causal personality, what he calls the Psychic Being, is the arbiter of our life and destiny, In fact, he goes on to add that the Psychic Being decides on the broad formulations of the life's tenor and texture before the birth. Our life then becomes the opportunity to unfold the secret manifesto with a large proportion of distinctness.

Sri Aurobindo, therefore, emphasizes upon the Swabhava and Swadharma, one's own specific manner of perceiving the reality and partaking of it. The contingency, the contextuality and the historicity, accordingly, form the great adventure in hermeneutics of the book of Nature, of which our life is but a leaf.

Sri Aurobindo denied admission to Delhi University

The greatest philosopher of modern India, Sri Aurobindo, does not find a place in the Philosophy syllabus of Delhi University. Many great scholars of the country and from abroad have already authored several treatises on the philosophy as well as the metaphysical poetry of Sri Aurobindo. Many comparative works, too, have been brought out by established publishing houses and top academic institutes. But Sri Aurobindo has yet to pass a test by our pedantic Professors of the University of Delhi.

Sri Aurobindo's extensive mapping of consciousness and his life-long endeavour to fathom the overhead regions through poetry and yoga are seminal contributions. His emphasis on attainability of highest possible perfection through sheer human efforts and by mere aspiration is a great message of hope. Further, the adventure of consciousness is not aimed at isolated spiritual salvation. Rather, a harmonious collective living is the ultimate destination. By translating this ideal to practical terms, Sri Aurobindo draws an elaborate blueprint concerning the ideal of human unity leading to the establishment of a World-Union.

Nemesis of confusion and delusion

Tusar N Mohapatra said... And therefore, THE LIFE DIVINE is the last word. The nemesis of confusion and delusion. Further, there is SAVITRI.

So, start reading and stop worrying. 10:18 PM

An Integral roadmap

Tusar N Mohapatra said... Sri Aurobindo and The Mother have formulated an Integral roadmap for the future of humanity by synthesizing the best elements from all cultures and religions. They have written extensively in English and French the philosophical background of their vision as well as the practical means to achieve that.

Their works need to be read patiently and over a long period. The next evolution that Sri Aurobindo has heralded is an inevitability but waits for our receptivity.

One becomes a Brahmana

The Mother and Sri Aurobindo keep harping on the notion that a higher, wider, and deeper mode of perception is native to our nature. Our whole business is to discover that.

• The urge to break-free from the shackles of restricted awareness and the endeavour to bridge the epistemological disconnect is Yoga.
• To be reborn into such an Integral Consciousness is being Dwija, i.e., attaining the state of Brahmana.