The father of distorted history of India

[It would not have been possible for India to stand where it is today had it not been for Jawaharlal Nehru who recognised decades ago that the future would belong to nations committed to industrialization...In the early years Nehru was seen as the great moderniser who relentlessly pushed India towards becoming an industrialised nation...

He also stood firm that the English language, which is now the bedrock of the multi-billion dollar outsourcing industry, be given as much importance as Indian languages despite fervent cries to abolish what was seen as a colonial hangover...But there is much more to Nehru’s role as the architect of modern India than merely laying the foundation for providing a playbook that future rulers of the country could dip into.

If one were to go beyond the first few lines of his famous ‘Tryst With Destiny’ speech, then it is evident that he was a man who realised 60 years ago that India and Asia would both have a significant role to play in the times to come. Here was a man who realised that growth with a human face is imperative if the nation was to achieve true greatness.

Most importantly, if India today remains a strong and vibrant democracy then it owes thanks in no small measure to Nehru, whose commitment to democracy was absolute. It’s a pity that more Indians have heard of rather than read Discovery of India, in which he expounds at length on the making of a nation state — the ideas and issues referred to in the book resonate even more strongly today than when Nehru first penned them.

All of which means that it is time to unfreeze Nehru from the sterile descriptions of our history textbooks, lifeless portraits in government offices and role as a convenient name for government schemes and airports. It is time to bring him back into the popular imagination. And that will happen only when someone reinterprets the man in a contemporary fashion the way Gandhi was brought to life for a whole new generation by Lage Raho Munnabhai. -- The rediscovery of Nehru, Harihar Narayanswamy, economictimes 13 Nov, 2007]

All said and done, the very fact that Nehru could not perceive appropriately the significance of Sri Aurobindo's vision is a serious lacuna in his otherwise commendable career. His connivance in creating a distorted version of history is simply unpardonable. [TNM]

Nandigram heralds

It is a matter of great relief that Nandigram has returned to the administration of the duly elected Government of the state. The Chief Ministers of other states, too, should find spine to bring back the 200 and odd districts ruled by the militant-Left. [TNM] 4:59 PM

Democracy yes, "savage capitalism" no

[Chávez later spun Juan Carlos' outburst as a monarchical affront to democracy (though Juan Carlos was, in fact, key to restoring constitutional rule in Spain after the death of its genuinely fascist dictator, Francisco Franco, in 1975). "The king is a head of state like me," Chávez said, "only I've been elected three times with 63% support." Behind the King's Rebuke to Chávez Monday, Nov. 12, 2007 By TIM PADGETT With reporting by Gideon Long/Santiago]

Defenders of democracy are a growing breed. May India's neighbourhood pay heed. [TNM]

Light, Bliss, Freedom, Immortality

[...the unconquerable impulse of man towards God, Light, Bliss, Freedom, Immortality...

Location: Home > E-Library > Works Of Sri Aurobindo > The Life Divine Volume-18 > The Human Aspiration]

What is the meaning of life?

The simple answer is LIFE.
L = Light
I = Immortality
F = Freedom
E = Ecstasy or Bliss

[TNM]

Sensex and Savitri Era

[Man who coined Sensex was just being lazy 8 Nov, 2007, Maulik Pathak economictimes.indiatimes.com ...it was for reasons of clear simplicity that he abbreviated the word that went on to become a sensation. “I had to type two words for writing sensitive index. So for ease, I christened it Sensex for my columns in 1989,” says Deepak Mohoni whose columns used to appear in publications... “The Bombay Stock Exchange, in fact, started using it in their publications much later, after 1995 or 1996,” he said.]

from Tusar N. Mohapatra tusarnmohapatra@gmail.com 11 Nov 2007 18:05

subject Re: [Aurobindo Philosophy] New comment on A literateur par excellence

Why do you think it is controversial? It is just some one's opinion, and he might not be well versed in the writings of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo. Let him think things afresh. In a way, we have given him the right stimulation/provocation to think more deeply instead of making superficial comments. In fact, I have already called it the Savitri Era Religion and have posted a number of justifications for the same. There is resistance, but over a period of time people will get attuned to the name. Let us make people participate in an open discussion and what is right will prevail. Thank you, Tusar

Genuineness, disinterestedness, and goodwill

Traditional religious festivals were occasions for fostering faith in the Divine powers. But they have turned huge spectacles over the years due to commercialism and media overkill. Many political and social organizations who are interested only in the crowd love this sanitized picture of religion as it helps to ferment discontent and irreverence in the minds of the people. Affluence and access to various avenues of entertainment is preventing people from god-ward feelings giving rise to a secular atmosphere at another level.

Striving to counter this situation is the need of the hour and Savitri Era Religion is the best bet in the prevailing circumstances. Even if people happen to read the writings of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo, may be, for intellectual or aesthetic pleasure, the call to spirituality crops up some day. Similar is the case with the feeling of identifying with the political ideals expounded by The Mother and Sri Aurobindo. The overall idea is to exhibit genuineness, disinterestedness, and goodwill in public which is in short supply today. And then people in large numbers can feel attracted towards this great ideal and be willing to participate in this great adventure. [TNM]

There is nothing to thank the Left for

[First, let us acknowledge that there is something to thank the Left for. When the Left announced its opposition to disinvestment after the UPA government came to power, the Sensex tanked. Critics of the Left yelled highway murder. This is the end of the rise in the Sensex, they said. We know now it was only the beginning...

There is a lesson in humility for firebrand reformers in the phenomenal increase in the market capitalisation of PSUs and PSBs. The reforms brigade could not have imagined that disinvestment, the gradual sale of government equity, could produce such results. They believed that disinvestment was a disaster as the value of PSUs and PSBs would only erode with time. The best way for government to maximise its revenues was to go for strategic sale, the transfer of a controlling stake to private companies.

These assertions have turned out to be completely wrong. The writer was almost alone in arguing that disinvestment, far from being a political compromise in India, had, in fact, been the dominant mode of privatisation worldwide and that it had produced splendid results. Strategic sale was rarer and happened more in economies with underdeveloped capital markets.

On a broader note, the evolution of the Indian economy has shown that there is little room for certitudes of any kind and that a scrupulous regard for the democratic process and respect for minority viewpoints on contentious issues are in order. In the case of disinvestment, what was interpreted as cussedness on the part of the Left has worked to the benefit of government. A point worth remembering in the heated debate on the Indo-US nuclear deal. -- T T Ram Mohan, Professor, Finance and Accounting Area, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Booming Sensex, smiling GoI The Economic Times 1 Nov, 2007]

Obviously, our Professor has not computed the enormous losses that the economy as a whole has suffered due to stalling of the strategic sale and disinvestment schedules. The Leftists are clearly working at the behest of China and are practicing a politics of conspiracy. One fails to understand the logical validity of how an opinion becomes the right one just because it emanates from the minority. [TNM]

The Mother and Sri Aurobindo are the most authentic teachers

Tusar N Mohapatra said...November 10, 2007 2:21 PM Thanks Kumar for creating a new blog on the philosophy of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo. I am all the more happy because a professional like you has discovered the necessity of their philosophy for solving the seemingly intractable crises of the modern society.

I hope the blog creates an awareness among the youth that excel in your profession and chase your dream but amidst all preoccupations leave aside a nook for philosophy and self-reflection as well. It is also important to pass around the information that The Mother and Sri Aurobindo are the most authentic teachers in this sector so that people are saved of the trouble of searching around and comparing various paths. With prayers for The Mother's blessings, yours fraternally, Tusar.

The Prime Minister himself is the problem

The Prime Minister has started voicing constitutional questions. But the Prime Minister himself is the problem. Dr. Manmohan Singh, the gentleman, by succumbing to the temptation of leading the country has committed serious indiscretion. The people of this large country through an elaborate election process in 2004 constituted a new Lok Sabha, but no one had any inkling that Dr. Singh will be in the saddle without a mandate. This is upturning of the people’s wishes and the results are evident now. He is in a bind and unable to carry anyone with him. Instead of dragging an illegitimate Government any further, he should resign and let a real leader emerge. [TNM]

Race and caste

[As early as 1910 Sri Aurobindo pointed out that race is a pseudo-scientific category. -- S. ARAVINDAN NEELAKANDAN UPI News]

While endorsing James Watson’s doubts over the politically correct assumption that people of all races possess equal intelligence, Peter Singer has advocated "open-minded investigation of the causes of inequalities in income, education, and health between people of different racial or ethnic groups." An equally volatile but worthwhile enterprise would be to subject the phenomenon of castes obtaining in India a scientific scan. [TNM] 9:35 AM

Savitri Era Religion is a secure shelter

[The religious life of other cultures has impacted on the developments in the West (as Peter van der Veer has pointed out), and also one of the facets of contemporary religious life in the West is the borrowing of forms of devotion, meditation and worship from other parts of the world...The developments of "modernity" did indeed, destabilize earlier forms of religious life…But this decay of older forms often is followed by a “recomposition” (Danièle Hervieu-Léger’s term) of new forms.” -- Charles Taylor secularism, A Secular Age. 6:34 PM]

Savitri Era Religion offers a secure shelter to all those who are tuned to recompositions. [TNM]

Sonia, Mamta, Uma, Maya, Jaya

The NDA is in doldrums and the UPA is tottering. How about our women leaders joining hands so that they give all other alliances a run for their money? Mamta from the east, Uma from the west, Maya from the north, Jaya from the south with Sonia at the centre can form a formidable electoral combination. Hillary, Benazir, and Su Kyi too would be happy at such a prospect. [TNM]

Take the idea of World Union further

The Prime Minister’s poser the day before as to the national parties vs. regional parties is basically an ethical question that echoes Kautilya’s dictum pronounced aeons ago that one must renounce the village for the sake of the country, and so forth. Obviously, such a concern has its solution in the establishment of a World Union. Sri Aurobindo has been absolutely clear on this and has emphatically announced its inevitability in his radio broadcast made on the eve of August 15, 1947. It is hoped that the fourth international conference on federalism will take the idea of World Union further. [TNM] 1:27 PM

We shall preserve the truths of material Science and its real utilities in the final harmony

Two chapters that can be said to form the prolegomena of The Life Divine are

• The Two Negations: The Materialist Denial and
• The Two Negations: The Refusal of the Ascetic.

The later can be read along with what is the meaning of ascetic ideals? 6 by Nietzsche in Genealogy of Morals on the one hand and Asceticism in Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation by Jeremy Bentham on the other. Further, it is not difficult to find in Sri Aurobindo’s line of argument an affinity with the following:

[Asceticism is rejected by modern day Judaism; it is considered contrary to God's wishes for the world. God intended for the world to be enjoyed, in a permitted context of course [1]. The Talmud says that "if a person has the opportunity to taste a new fruit and refuses to do so, he will have to account for that in the next world"…The closest Judaism comes to asceticism is when it tries to teach people to enjoy the more intellectual and spiritual pleasures, and not to chase after the simpler pleasures. However, Judaism does not encourage people to seek pleasure for its own sake but rather to do so in a spiritual way. – Asceticism From Wikipedia.] 1:59 PM 3:54 PM [TNM]

The possibility of a Gnostic society is not premised on the separation of church and state

The Life Divine has its roots in the occasional articles on ethics and religion that Sri Aurobindo wrote for Bande Mataram, Karmayogin, Dharma, and later, The Standard Bearer. But the idea of Bhawani Bharati -- an ideal collectivity -- could not be elaborated sufficiently during the Arya period. It was during the revision in 1939 that the last six newly written chapters were added to The Life Divine. And this makes The Life Divine the greatest book on earth.

Especially the last two chapters lift it from dry ontology to resplendent sociology. The possibility of a Gnostic society is not premised on the separation of church and state, but a harmonization of the two is stipulated. A secularized polity has been shown to be an impossibility, while an ethics-driven, intuition-based rule of inner-freedom takes up the mantle of organizing the community affairs. The primacy of the philosopher-king concept has been given a new lease of legitimacy by invoking consensus and democracy.

Globalization and geo-politics are in ferment at presnt causing enormous anxiety and uncertainty in the minds of the people the world over. The security of the nationhood is falling apart as new vulnerabilities are looming large. Anticipating remedies for cross-cultural pathogens has become challenging as well as hazardous. In this scenario, the agenda of The Life Divine is the only secure path, and hence, people of all walks of life need to read it. [TNM]

Not to read The Life Divine is a great deprivation and disability

Time and again, we have appealed that all should read The Life Divine. Of course, those who read books are few in number and majority of them love only fiction. Further, the size of the book and the style of writing are not very inviting. Thus, the dice is apparently loaded against a general reception of the book.

Therefore, it is essential that we make special efforts to publicize the advantages of reading The Life Divine. Sincere attempts are needed to make people aware that this is not merely a religious book. A summary of The Life Divine is available in many books and articles. But that is not equivalent to reading the book in original.

It is regrettable that the book is hardly discussed despite of its great significance. The reason being, the experience of benefiting by reading the book is quite personal and contextual. It is common to stumble upon a sentence or a passage while reading the book that contains extraordinary wisdom. But if you quote the same in an article or lecture, the force dwindles.

The Life Divine is not a book to be read and finished. It should be a companion of sorts. The trick is to read a little bit every now and then; without any expectation or exasperation. And the knowledge dawns with time. The book has insights in almost all aspects of life and the world. Not to read it is a great deprivation and disability.

So we remind and request all members of the blogosphere to make an attempt to read The Life Divine or at least a few chapters at random and thereby discover the treasure it offers. There is no other alternative than to read it personally. There is no other book to match its majesty. [TNM]

Camel, cat, cow, chameleon etc.

Nietzsche, in his Thus spake Zarathustra, delineates three different poises as demonstrated by a camel, a lion, and a child. While the camel is the beast of burden, the lion stands for the dissenter, also signifying innovation or experimentation. The child he conceives as the creator lost in play that marks the highest level.

A parallel imagery, interestingly, is available in the book, “The Mother” by Sri Aurobindo. In the first stage of Sadhana, one should become a docile worker; in the next an instrument; and in the end complete identity. The image of the lion as the “bahana” (the vehicle of the Goddess) easily evokes the sense of heroic surrender, while the dependence of a baby-cat sits well with the child metaphor. Elsewhere in the same book, the obedience of the disciple, the warrior, and the servant has also been broached. In a couple of his aphorisms, too, Sri Aurobindo has taken up Nietzsche’s trinity for comment and adds a fourth, viz., Kamadhenu, the mythical cow of plenty.

Speaking of camel and lion, the chameleon comes to the mind, which also symbolizes innovation. But better not think further, lest one is reminded of Kafka’s hibernation and metamorphosis. If Nietzsche comes, can Kafka be far behind? [TNM]

Sinister sinophilia

[Indo-US ties anti-China, so we will oppose: Karat
Expressindia: Friday , November 02, 2007 at 09:42:28 Kolkata, November 1: The CPM vowed to oppose a strategic alliance between India and the United States saying such a move is aimed at countering China. ''We shall not rest in our fight till the strategic ties with the US is snapped out,'' Karat said speaking at a CPM-sponsored programme to celebrate October Revolution day in Kolkata. He said the US was trying to make India its strategic ally in countering China, "the most powerful socialist country capable of challenging the might of the USA". Press Trust of India ]

Savitri Erans too vow to foil the sinister mechinations of Karat's foolhardiness. [TNM]

A new commonality than commerce and a new logic than logistics

European Union's tardy march is the most profound evolutionary experiment that is taking place over the planet, although its future is fraught with serious hazards. The history of all wisdom as well as warfare, all noble longings as well as hatred, has gone into the idea of making this ambitious project a -- albeit faltering -- success. But, how long the pent up feelings of envy and enmity can be kept under wraps is the Million Euros question.

A new commonality than commerce and a new logic than logistics has to be sought after by the EU for an enduring existence. The Savitri Era approach is that of transformation and not suppression. It offers the most synthetic formula for a truly federal polity. EU may ignore this only at its own peril. [TNM]

The Mother’s method is to heal with wholeness

The Botany Professor used to advise to develop the power of observation. To look at the plants and their leaves and the flowers etc. even while roaming around. But when it comes to difficulties, The Mother’s counsel is not to concentrate on them. Not to discuss them or put too much of emphasis upon them. This way, we are able to enfeeble them.

The Mother’s method is to heal with wholeness. The particular or the transitory has an importance of its own; but when compared to the larger reality, it is inconsequential. Most of the sociological and psychological problems we grapple with today arise out of an inchoate metaphysics. The Life Divine is the omnibus answer. But nowadays there are more writers than readers. [TNM]

We continue to long for a transcendent purpose immanent in existence

[Dennett is not the only new atheist to employ religious language. In The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins quotes with approval a new set of Ten Commandments for atheists, which he obtained from an atheist website, without considering odd the idea that atheists require commandments at all, let alone precisely ten of them; nor does their metaphysical status seem to worry him. -- What the New Atheists Don’t See -- Theodore Dalrymple -- To regret religion is to regret Western civilization.] [Dalrymple is himself an atheist -- Carl Olson]

"An epidemic rash of books...roundly condemning religion" are in effect perpetuating Jurassic religions in disguise. Savitri Erans beware! [TNM]

We really know nothing about The Mother

The greatest miracle that The Mother performed was divining the wealth of wisdom that Sri Aurobindo had, even before she met him. What she could perceive then and strove to tell all her life, even a fraction of that has not been comprehended by the world as of yet. It is so pertinent to be curious about The Mother, because we really know nothing about her. Why her parents migrated to France, why she went to Algeria, why did she visit Egypt on the way to India, Why she had to go to Japan and visited China while returning; these are all sheer mystery to us. Max Theon and Paul Richard, Hitler and the holocaust; they all add to the incredible storyline. Let's hope that all these jigsaw pieces will fall into place some day. In the meantime, we wait with certitude and gratitude; and ruminate, "To know how to wait is to have time on one's side." [TNM]

Unexplainable valorization of the weird and the absurd

One must have passed through hundreds of art shows while wandering around the Mandi House roundabout unendingly, and understandably, wondered at a few remarkable pieces once in a while, trying to memorize certain enticing curves and lines with the forlorn thought of never ever having another chance of admiring it again. While the mischievous feeling that others too don’t understand nor are able to possess, lingers, art remains for ever an enigma. More so, because of the unexplainable valorization of the weird and the absurd in the name of abstract at the cost of the narrative. Not surprisingly, The Economic Times does art promotion these days by carrying whatever parody of what used to be an art review. [TNM]

Devotion to The Mother is the precondition in the Savitri Era Religion

Let there be not even the minutest scope for harboring any illusion that the Integral Yoga can be practiced independently on the basis of some books or lectures. No system or method, nor any set of practice can entitle one for progress in this path without allegiance to The Mother, who is the sole dispenser of any awareness or reward.

Being proficient in some task or acquiring skill in a specific responsibility can give one the impression that it is equivalent to performing Yoga, but the same by itself, howsoever high may be its level of excellence, is not. It is only by consistently maintaining a spirit of dedication to the Mother year after year and undertaking the labor with a sense of collaboration that our work can qualify as Yoga.

It is normal that many may perceive a tense feeling towards The Mother at the initial encounter due to various factors like doubt and envy. But a persistent engagement with her teachings can rid one of all suspicion and diffidence and permit germination of receptivity and dependence in its place. This overarching precondition for devotion to The Mother is religion. Each and every Savitri Eran needs to remember and remind himself continually of this central secret of our Religion. [TNM]