Knowledge is a whip and Aspiration, the spur

Techniques of Yoga refined by various systems and schools look practical and impressive, but each psycho-physical discipline conceals a propensity for limiting and binding. Our spatio-temporal-corporal existence is susceptible to inertia and skills developed over a period of time tend to lull one into imagined progress. Moreover, once acquired, it is not easy to get rid of the past baggage.

Integral Yoga, on the contrary, constantly goads in the direction of new discoveries. The top-down approach is a powerful proposition and continuous psychological reengineering is a much potent means. “Knowledge is a whip” here and Aspiration, the spur. Savitri and The Life Divine, therefore, are essential companions in the path.

Integral Yoga, as against the popular notion, is not an amalgamation of disparate streams that come from the tradition. Nor is it a hybrid teaching in the search of results. It is an integrated system of self-culture with distinct prescriptions. Any attempt to tinker with it is hence hazardous and impudent. [TNM]    

This world's a life sentence, Yoga turns it a love affair

Keeping a diary gradually appears as if one lives to write it. Just like the observer turning a participant in the experiment.  "It isn't the man who drinks the tea, it's the tea which drinks the man," quipped Jean Baudrillard. Wrote Larval Subjects recently, “Inverting the way we commonly talk and think about domestication, the book will explore how grasses, grains, various animals such as wolves, cows, cats, goats, and microbes, as well as technologies have conspired to domesticate human beings for their own ends.”

Thus, the contingent and the contextual is always a local event hardly amenable to any generalization or universalization. Empirical observations, therefore, carry the risk of throwing up highly impaired inferences. Practice of yoga, too, is a personalized affair and no two trajectories can be identical. Once one gains an entry into the continent of Integral Yoga, a million paths open for pursuing a life long love affair or even to escape. [TNM]

Religion matters

[Assembly polls: Kerala results show religious polarization Times of India - The voting pattern displayed a communal polarization across the state, with Christians and Muslims consolidating behind Congress-led UDF, and the Hindu areas going with the CPM-led LDF in almost a repeat of the 1987 state polls. … There were a few exceptions, but broadly, the Hindus gravitated towards the Left in reaction to the UDF's aggressive wooing of Christians and Muslims.] 

The victory in Assam and West Bengal too is indebted to Muslim vote. It would be unwise to overlook this prime fault line of Indian democracy. [TNM]

Policy vs. personality

[The people have got freedom: Mamata Indian Express - ‎May 13, 2011 -At the threshold of history, all Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee could find was a mid-high footstool from which she delivered a short, emotional victory speech.]

[Jayalalithaa: Tamil Nadu's iron woman is chief minister once more Economic Times - ‎CHENNAI: Jayaram Jayalalithaa, set to be Tamil Nadu's chief minister for a third time, began life as a small-time movie actress before becoming one ofIndia's most successful woman politicians.]

Liquidation of the Left is surely a fuel for glee, but with such mercurial women returning to power, there is every reason to be cautious and feel alarmed. It is apparent that the voters have no viable alternative, and inculcating personality cult is no balm for grassroots politics. Savitri Era Party reserves its right to disagree with all dominant parties on distinct policy parameters.

The TV channels are showing the picture of jubilation in Alipore Jail from across the river. Time for us to be prayerful and wait for our day with gratitude. [TNM]

Yoga & gender

[Pierre Bourdieu - Google Books Result - Richard Jenkins - 1992 - Social Science - 190 pages

The fundamental binary division, and the model for all others, is that of gender: 'The limit par excellence, that between the sexes, will not brook transgression ...’]

['TV is no longer exciting because I have done all that I had to do' 1 May In this Idea Exchange moderated by Shubhra Gupta, Film Critic, The Indian ... 

Ektaa Kapoor: I was very clear that people must feel that my heroines are one of them. In films, you need glamour dolls because it’s a male medium. On TV, men are the glamour dolls, you want a husband like Ram Kapoor or Ronit Roy; the women have to be one of us and you aspire to be like them.]

The dynamics of aspirants of both sexes living within the same community remains an ill-lit area. The ruthlessness with which gender relations outside are examined under the microscope should be a pointer to the kind of sensitivity and transparency that is expected from exalted organizations and their theoreticians. [TNM] 

Reason & folklore

[Ebb in Tagore tide in West? Amartya scouts for clues Calcutta Telegraph

Far from being a mystic, Tagore was a man of reason, especially when compared with Gandhi. Tagore admired Gandhi enormously and insisted on calling him the “Mahatma”, stressed Sen, but he felt the latter’s ideas on sex and economics, for example, were downright dotty and even dangerous.]

[About time Indian Express - ‎May 8, 2011‎

The fifth volume of its official history series, The Congress and the Making of the Indian Nation, deals with the period between 1964 and 1984, arguably the two most complex and troubling decades in its 125-year history. Naturally, Indira Gandhi’s ambiguous legacy dominates the volume.]

[I hate thin people: Ekta Kapoor Times of India - Garima Sharma - ‎May 5, 2011‎

I used to be a human being earlier and now I am folklore because people think they know me even before they know me. You are going to throw a stone at us, or a mobile, your temper... and I am like, "Guys, there are no mandates! I'm a human being.]

Pen portraits will always be accused of misplaced perspective, and therefore, it won’t be easy to pronounce where history ends and mythology takes over. [TNM]

Human form is a hidden presence of truly mythological proportions

[Reading the paranormal writing us: an interview with Jeffrey Kripal from The Immanent Frame by Nathan Schneider

If there is anything I believe, it is that we are not who we think we are. “Mind” or “consciousness” is not some neurological froth or emergent property of the computer brain, much less some ethnic or religious ego. Rather, it is a non-spatial, non-temporal presence of proportions so vast and so fantastic that there is really no way to exaggerate it, and there is certainly no way to “explain” it with either the absolute contextualist and relativist epistemologies of the humanities or the objectivist epistemologies and naïve realisms of the sciences. Basically, I am suggesting that the human form is a hidden presence of truly mythological proportions. A recent dissertation, by Jason Kelly at the University of Ottawa, has attempted to capture my thought under my own early rubric of “mystical humanism.” I accept that. Everything religious can indeed be reduced to the human, but it turns out that the human is not at all what we thought. That is very close to “what I believe.”]

[Brahman does not stand to nature as a Creator-god does in Western religion … 17 May 2010

Beyond Natural Selection and Intelligent Design: Sri Aurobindo’s Theory of Evolution Ulrich J Mohrhoff Abstract … An outline of Sri Aurobindo’s theory of spiritual evolution is presented. Ultimate Reality relates to each world (ours need not be the only one) as the substance that constitutes it, as a consciousness that contains it, and as an infinite joy that expresses and experiences itself in it. In our world, Ultimate Reality is “playing Houdini,” enchaining itself as best it can, challenging itself to escape from self-created darkness and inertia, to rediscover its true self and powers, to affirm itself in conditions…]

[Extended Mind and Political Theory from Larval Subjects - Apr 30, 2011

Andy Clark’s central, and surprising thesis, is that mind is not what exists between the ears, but is rather the mesh of brain, body, and world itself. At the beginning of Supersizing the Mind, Clark relates an anecdote from Feynman to illustrate this idea. Charles Wiener had expressed delight in discovering a collection of Feynman’s notes and sketches, indicating how wonderful it was to have a record of Fyenman’s day-to-day work.]

The perennial philosophy crowd would not care to notice the volcanic effect of The Life Divine. The immense contribution of Sri Aurobindo to ontological speculations, therefore, is still outside popular conception. Appreciating his works, of course, needs commitment and application. But, maintaining a devotional approach is no less important. [TNM]

No more hiding for Hindi

On a couple of occasions, I remember, Mohan Joshiji might have convinced someone for purchasing Savitri at the Book Fair, and if he insists on the Hindi translation, then the search for the book would begin. But no luck. Dr. Gyanchandra used to hide the copies and was loath to recommend them. 


I'm happy, therefore, to read his eulogy for the recent Hindi transcreation by Dr. K. N. Varma in the current Karmdhara. [TNM]

Cure the rot at the root

Prafulla Mahanta came to power through popular agitation but failed to deliver. Chandrababu Naidu came through the dynasty route and was tech-savvy, but couldn’t be re-elected. The Anna campaign, thankfully, has triggered a rich discourse on the dynamics of Indian democracy, but no one is willing to cure the rot at the root level. We are perhaps not mature enough to handle a UK referendum like move on voting procedures. That’s a long way from lighting candles at India Gate. [TNM]

Good Express, Bad Express

Indian Express has done a commendable job in exposing the bankruptcy of thinking within the Anna bandwagon. Those who are easily overwhelmed by a crowd and a carnival should remember that the wisdom of the crowd is best appreciated from the stories of a clay idol vanishing and no milk in the pond. Democracy, contrary to popular notion, is not a rule by the majority, but by a small minority duly authorized. Presently, it is a tough time to talk to anyone on this point, as all seem to be sold to the pro-Anna campaign by the TV news channels.

Another such moment was during the anti-Mandal Commission agitation. V. P. Singh was demonized to such an extent that to speak in his favour was really risky. Even Indian Express let us down at that point. Alas! [TNM]  

Merit in caste system

[Stamp out khap panchayats: court The Hindu - ‎While deprecating the caste system in the country, the Supreme Court has declared illegal 'khap panchayats' which often decree or encourage honour killings or other institutionalised atrocities against boys and girls of different castes and religions ]

Social intercourse demands multiple yardsticks for assessing others in order to overcome Caveat emptor eventualities. Like language, religion, and nationality, caste, too, provides a safety net for several filtering purposes. Even the Constitution of India recognizes the castes for certain identification. Unfortunately, the system is derided without going deep into its genealogy and overlooking how intimately is it imbricated with the social consciousness. Wishful thinking by a few city-dwellers, obviously, can't serve as the bedrock of a stable future of the nation. [TNM]

Primacy of ontology

The current discourse over corruption and civil society is, appreciatively, provoking more and more minds. The issue is no longer a straightforward schism between anarchy and democracy. Rather, matters ontological have started percolating into more thoughtful articulations. All questions of politics, ultimately, are better probed through philosophical methods and, therefore, judging the dynamics of civil society against a larger canvas can surely supply more dependable answers.

The life divine, as envisaged by Sri Aurobindo, can be said to be the most perfect paradigm of a civil society. A republic or a democracy etc. are all various steps in that glorious direction. Such an evolutionary arrow, however, is comfortable with a non-linear trajectory – a disclosure which somewhat disappoints. But playing back and forth as in hermeneutics is perhaps a necessary means for pushing the envelope.

Fed on free mother’s milk, it takes a long span of time for man to distinguish corruption. Some prefer to play blind and consider everything as their own, thus transcending subtle ethical demarcations. They love to presume that others perpetrate corruption, just as accidents are meant for others. The Guna canons and Varna distinctions also somehow condone such personal foibles by assigning causal or genealogical imperatives. Overlooking such fundamental insights would imperil the outcome of the present impatience. [TNM] 

The Lives vs. Life and Times

A million kudos to Manoj Das and his "dedicated researcher friends" for the new biography that has blossomed in the Mother India of this month. May it spread ample cheers after three years of dismal emission generated by Heehs' hostile book. [TNM] 

Compare and contrast

[Moily rules out ban on Lelyveld's book on Mahatma Gandhi Economic Times

NAGPUR: Union Law minister Veerappa Moily has ruled out Centre imposing a ban on the controversial book on Mahatma Gandhi by Joseph Lelyveld stating that the American author himself has denied writing anything adverse about the leader.]

[The Trial and the Verdict -- by Alok Pandey

...Perhaps the phrase ‘a stitch in time saves a nine’ applies here aptly. When early warnings are ignored, then we are only waiting for the volcano to erupt and its lava and ashes to scorch the earth and cloud the skies. Was this avoidable? We can never know with certainty, but one thing is sure. The responsibility of the storm that has been raised... from A critique of the book "The Lives of Sri Aurobindo" by Peter Heehs]

Compare and contrast! [TNM]

Gandhi, Ambedkar, Deendayal, & Lohia

“Common man in the economic ideas of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Ambedkar & Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya”: that was the theme of a Seminar organized by India Development Foundation on September 25, 2010 at the Constitution club. None of the speakers, unfortunately, could do justice to such a wide-ranging subject and Dr. Mahesh Chandra Sharma observed that the three great men were rather philosophers and not economists.

DU is hosting a three-day Conference on “Social philosophy & Socialist politics after Lohia : Chasms & Bridges” during March 28-30, 2011. Major political parties in India today are indebted to these four leaders. But it is often forgotten that they were products of their times and their socio-economic thinking, therefore, should not be treated as frozen. It is easy to rouse popular passion by criticizing the rich and their enterprises. But earning such political dividends corrodes the economic well being of the nation and its people.

The nuclear quagmire in Japan has sent shock waves over the future of the present model of development that leans so heavily on science and technology. But to propose that there is an alternative route is sheer chicanery. Risks of technology will have to be combated with more technology and not by hurtling back to the dark ages. There is nothing wrong in paying homage to these great patriots our country produced, but following the economic policies they espoused would be a mistake. [TNM]

The Mother at exam time

[How I discovered Sri Aurobindo and the Mother POSTED BY DR. RAMESH BIJLANI AT 1:55 AM 

I joined AIIMS as an MBBS student in 1965, and spent 40 years there, almost without a break. Sri Aurobindo Ashram – Delhi Branch is less than 4 km from AIIMS, but it took me 27 years to discover this oasis of peace. And, it is not that I was blind to matters religious or spiritual. Before I went to the ashram, I had done a decent amount of study on these subjects, and had tried to construct mentally an ethical code by which I had tried to live my life. But being a rationalist, I had generally kept away from places of worship as well as any rituals or ceremonies. Anyway, I went to Sri Aurobindo Ashram for the first time in 1992 on a Sunday morning at 10 am for a satsang. The discourse was good, but what impressed me more was the cleanliness, order, punctuality, and the intense spiritual energy of the place. Moreover, there seemed to be no obvious or mandatory rituals, customs or dress code. In short, the emphasis was on what is within you, rather than on the surface. ]

There are several medical practitioners among the top erangelists and Dr. Bijlani is one. But having come to The Mother so late in life, he can't really be said to have lived Integral Yoga. Textual presentation of prescriptions with clinical precision is one thing, but the tale of relying upon The Mother during each ordeal and examination in life is quite another. [TNM] 

Savitri Era Party is against anti-market rhetoric

[Baba Ramdev; Yogi or Commissar from Communalism Watch by Ram Puniyani

Baba Ramdev has been probably most successful of God men of recent times...

The current times have been the one where the politics has been wearing the clothes of religious identity. Baba is going one step ahead. He is trying to ride on two horses, the one of spirituality-religion and the other of entrepreneur-politician, at the same time. His association with those who have done politics by abusing religious identity, the communalists, is very clear. That may be the reason as to why he is creating hysteria around corruption by one political party rather than against corruption as a phenomenon related to our socio-political structure. POSTED BY RAM PUNIYANI AT FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2011]

Rajiv Dikshit claims that the manifesto of  Bharat Svabhiman is a reaffirmation of the nationalist exhortations of Sri Aurobindo published in the Bande Mataram. However, Savitri Era Party is against the hawkish anti-market rhetoric parroted by Dikshit. [TNM]

Paid-news is steering political events

Paid-news phenomenon constitutes a watershed in the evolution of democracy in India. It is an obvious extension of the TV news channels churning out back-to-back breaking news while frantically chasing TRPs. The media is no longer a mere intermediary, but an active agent and a powerful player. The infotainment industry is not just peripheral as earlier. Rather, it has acquired substantial muscle in steering political events.

The Constitution of India was crafted in relatively innocent times. That the proceedings of Lok Sabha would be telecast live was simply unthinkable. Adapting to technological changes, therefore, is a challenge now for the Indian democracy. Panel discussions over at TV studios are effective alternatives of Parliamentary debates. The more they are institutionalized and internalized the better.

Political parties running captive TV channels is an accepted practice now in many States. This being replicated at the national level is only a matter of time. Such transparency needs to be welcomed in the interest of integrity and fair-play. Citizens skilled in deciphering slants in reporting and bias in paid-news would then be the right antidote. [TNM]

Fathoming Foucault and Derrida

[Thinking the Impossible: French Philosophy Since 1960 by Gary Gutting – review The Guardian - Gary Gutting The theories of Derrida and Foucault are revisited in this fair-minded history of French deconstructionism, and guess what? It wasn't all bunkum… But was there anything inside the texts of Derrida and his fellow deconstructionists? Gutting is scrupulously fair-minded on this point. On the one hand, he says (in an argument that gives him his title), post-structuralist thought has been no less than an attempt to "think the impossible".

On the other hand, impossible thinking makes for impossible writing, and he boldly admits that "for almost all of us (even those of us who spend a good amount of time on recent French philosophy), [it] cannot be understood through a close, line-by-line reading". Far better, he concludes, to treat this stuff like poetry – as essentially unparaphrasable and never fully explicable.]

Venturing through this poetry of the last half century can be hugely rewarding even for Savitri Erans who wear poetry as second skin. [TNM]

The confusion that is India

Major languages in India are powerful anchors of sub-nationalism. No meaningful co-operation between various States has occurred due to this basic difference. Religion, geography, and caste are other contributing factors subverting the national identity. The tension between tradition and modernity remains a perplexing affair for people of all ages. Increasing secularization of life and society robs the cushion of mythological beliefs and metaphysical assurances. Exposure to overseas customs and practices triggers drastic lifestyle overhauls. The flux is accentuated through easy communication channels and sundry gadgets. Travel and trans-national jobs are also transforming the text-book definitions of nationalism and patriotism.

India in such a scenario is perhaps the most confused nation. On the top of it, the political power wrests with a foreign-born woman. English language and Western manners carry a premium and the cream of society across the country firmly follow the colonial legacy. Paradoxically, this influential elite that dominate the media and the academy claim to be the close friends of the marginalized. Motivated sociological doctrines coupled with highly distorted history books have taken their toll. To sum up, people of India are yet to understand their own nation. [TNM]

Indian exceptionalism is suspect

[Sri Aurobindo'S Theory of Nationalism Sri Aurobindo was looked upon as a prophet of the Indian nationalism. In association with Bankimchandra, Tilak and Dayanand, he contributed to the t.]

It is impossible today to see India in isolation. And hence the difficulty of formulating any precise notion about it. From Dalits to Diaspora, the diversity is vast and complex. From Software to Soft Power, its influence pervades everywhere. The way the media and entertainment industry is reinventing itself and integrating with Global trends, the distinctive elements of culture are likely to be extinct. This technology-enabled phenomenon can hardly be thwarted.

Thus, increasingly, the assumptions sorrounding India are turning nebulous. As a nation now alert to occupiy its rightful place, the trajectory seems normal. But as an ancient civilization that must leverage its tryst with modernity to be the harbinger of a harmonious life upon the planet, the promise is not secure enough. That is a tall order and why should it at all be saddled with such an onerous responsibility is  a valid objection.

Indians share the same physiological existence with the rest of the species and are not entitled to any anatomical advantage. Neither geography offers any particular edge over the others. Besides India can't boast of any superior social, political, economic, or educational system. Thus, the claim of Indian exceptionalism sounds hollow and becomes suspect. [TNM]

Collective transformation

[Change, Identity, and the Fundamental Transformation of America Patriot Post - Jack Kerwick - ‎Mar 14, 2011‎

While on his campaign trail for the presidency, Barack Obama talked to no end about the "change" that would visit upon America, a change so profound, so sweeping, that it would "fundamentally transform" ...]

Transformation is a watchword within the teaching of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo. It entails a constant aspiration for embracing change and mustering courage to replace the existing dispensation. Not only in personal longings but also in matters collective or political. [TNM] 

Carlson's complain

[Aurobindo’s and the Mother’s failure to follow through on their teachings Comment on Indian Nationalism, Pluralism and Sri Aurobindo by Richard Carlson by rc via Comments for Posthuman Destinies by rc on 4/03/11]

An amusing quip as Carlson fails to notice the contradiction. The Divine, obviously, is not compelled by a particular recipe of political correctness. [TNM]

Savitri Erans must unite under a single banner

[Political Islamism: dividing, dying Indian Express I was eager to talk to him because he had used my 1991 book, La Revanche de Dieu (“The Revenge of God”), in his famous article and subsequent volume,...]

Savitri Erans must unite under a single banner in order to present a credible face of the alternative that The Mother & Sri Aurobindo have so laboriously fabricated. [TNM]