A book comes along once in a way which hits you hard; and this is one of those. I discovered Swami Vivekananda through his Complete Works at the age of 40, and I kicked myself for having missed it for such a prolonged period of my life. I kick myself again after a decade, as I discover another giant, Sri Aurobindo, through his articles, letters, speeches, and conversations. Sri Aurobindo is unfortunately a vaguely known figure in the collective Indian psyche. Most students are dimly aware that he did something for India and spirituality, but that is the beginning and end of their knowledge on Sri Aurobindo. At least that was the case with me in my growing years despite a more than adequate exposure to education and libraries.
It is a loss for us because Sri Aurobindo has a deep relevance to our country and our future. Spirituality defined him, but it was not the spirituality of a renunciating monk. He was rooted firmly in the realities of the world around him; and India’s future worried him. His articles show an unclouded vision of India. Dr Pingali Gopal 04-01-2019
Assorted tweets:
Introducing you to these two gents: @raptor_fossil, @viryavaan.
All of us Hindus must read Sri Aurobindo's books. He is afaik the ONLY yogi who has not only not avoided the political theme, he has expressly dealt with it. Not saying though he recommended cultivating anger.
All I can say is, I'm in the process of falling in love with Sri Aurobindo (haven't read a single book of his yet, though) . I don't know how I managed not ever running into his works all my life.
Rest, I'll let RF and VV add as they have read both.
https://t.co/8HomlS5Plx
https://twitter.com/_blunty/status/1116712744890187777?s=19
Just a friendly caution: Don't debate argue right at the outset. For initial few weeks months, try and absorb whatever gets shared here.
We all come from certain prior backgrounds. The most common mistake we make is, quickly judge the new using the old
https://t.co/i5ykv0f5Oc
This is how I described my own encounter with Sri Aurobindo for a very long time. Once u pass the event horizon then there is no escaping the Great Attractor.
https://twitter.com/viryavaan/status/1116714949701722112?s=19
Well, I would say because in case of Ramana Maharshi the brevity was necessary for his work and in the case of Sri Aurobindo prolific writing was necessary for his work, since the nature of the work dictates the nature of the action & the means necessary to accomplish it.
https://twitter.com/viryavaan/status/1116715760993357826?s=19
Vivekananda stood for Vedanta but there were extraordinary possibilities for something greater for the future in his exposition of it. Sri Aurobindo represents the full working out of these possibilities. (1/2)
Specifically the emergence of a divine race manifesting the
Divine Consciousness as human race manifests the Mental Consciousness. The realization of this goal is the object of Sri Aurobindo's Integral (Purna) Yoga or Yoga of Supramental Transformation. (2/2)
Right now the mind can only CONCEIVE of escape as the highest possibility precisely coz we r mental beings. But there r planes of consciousness above the mind which can manifest their own species & world. This is the inevitable destiny of the Earth & the purpose of its existence.
https://twitter.com/viryavaan/status/1116717142370603008?s=19
Sri Aurobindo is like the Himalayan range. U can choose which mountain to scale... even if u read Sri Aurobindo's "Essays on the Gita" for eg. it will b like nothing else u have ever come across on Gita or Indian spirituality for that matter. But some efforts always necessary 🙂
https://twitter.com/viryavaan/status/1116722491966337024?s=19
One can draw an analogy to the Mental force & consciousness which includes everything all the way up till what we normally call God or gods. For a mental being, man and before "man proper" the hominids, to start emerging this force and consciousness had to descend at some point.
https://twitter.com/viryavaan/status/1116760716608819200?s=19
Mental consciousness & force is involved or concealed in all matter... thats y even in animals the mind element is there but still rudimentary. But for the emergence of a mental BEING the force & consciousness must descend & the pressure results in the evolution forward & upward.
Similarly I feel the highest spiritual beings in humanity also there must be elements & fragments of Supramental consciousness. But for a full Supramental BEING to emerge the consciousness & force had to descend, which took place on Feb 29th 1956.
Now for individuals also it becomes possible to open to it. Of course this also requires a lot of preparation & purification. But it is possible now & the force & consciousness wud also work on the world independent of what any individual does to mould the collective from within.
https://twitter.com/viryavaan/status/1116763819072741377?s=19
The spiritual essence of Hinduism has a calming effect on all. It needs no preaching or aggression. Luckily educated non-Hindus know this n reject its dark priests, its new avatars! Sri Aurobindo took the essence n rejected the rest.
https://twitter.com/GoutamGhosal2/status/1116711447508033538?s=19
Sir these are terms specifically used in #SriAurobindo's yoga.. Vital being corresponds with the 'Pranamaya Purusha' of the Upanishads, corresponding to life-energy.. Any want of satisfaction there can produce depression..
https://twitter.com/Auro_Mere/status/1116730228913651712?s=19
SA(#SriAurobindo) used writing as a way 2 express Higher Consciousness physically. Writing helps a lot. Its a SAdhana. What SA teaches is a direct action from Ishwara on de mental,vital & physical. Dis is what Tamil Siddhas taught long ago. Spirituality progresses by opening up+
https://twitter.com/raptor_fossil/status/1116729234725019648?s=19
mind & thus Divinising (if i can say that) it, then divinising the energies/vital, finally the cells themselves, of the body. The obligation/need to die thats present on earth has to be removed-is de teaching of Siddhas. SA came to remind SAdhaks of tht->de ultimate logical+
continuity of any sAdhana has to be 2 remove this need to quit de body. Siddhas like Agastya,Thirumoolar,paambaatti Siddhar etcsaid de same. Ishwara is latent in cells. To 'unlock' Ishwara from cells-is de ultimate aim. Discovery of Self is de 1st step on de way.Thus,where Yoga+
as traditionally understood end,begins the SAdhana of the Siddhas. Ultimately de cells of body get transmuted into their original 'substance'/Ishwara-Tattva/Shiva-tattva casting aside this material cloak that's present on it now: Comparable to Several mutations happening in one+
birth, as it happend to Siddha Ramalinga Swami (https://t.co/Em4KqxH3Te). SV (Swami Vivekananda) gives a hint about sthg tht was revealed to Him at Amarnath. From what He says,i feel He received this JnAna of Deathless Life but He chose to quit His physical body & remain in subtle+
Body 2 help sAdhaks. He is available near de earth for the next (about)1400 years-in His own words. SV helped SA & gave hints at Divinising the body->SA calls it 'supramentalisation' of de body. SA mentions de help He recvd from SV. (End)
https://twitter.com/raptor_fossil/status/1116731521631567872?s=19
I don't know whether He wanted that. But I feel that SA & Mother have 'established' supramental consciousness in matter. So,others can walk de path with relatively less effort.
Limitations of the Mental Power in the Transformation of the Vital and Physical Elements of Existence https://t.co/ufQ5eGHw9Y
Check out this Meetup: Talk on "Contribution of Sri Aurobindo Society to the nation" https://t.co/YPqLiXIRzT #Meetup #Noida via @Meetup
https://twitter.com/vastusindhu/status/1116572864876961793?s=19
[Theodor Adorno defended obscurity in The Jargon of Authenticity (1964). everyday language reinforces oppressive... In One-Dimensional Man (1964), Herbert Marcuse... And in Monolingualism of the Other (1996), Jacques Derrida defended his own obscure style] https://t.co/9yRaTfv9uh
https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1116760187644203008?s=19
[From ancient Chinese clans to the papal lineages of the Renaissance, to American families like the Gores, Kennedys, and Bushes, Bellow explores how nepotism has produced both positive and negative effects throughout history... nepotism practiced well can even benefit society]
https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/1116626100698746882?s=19
14 great men in pairs John Milton and Milton Friedman, Benjamin Franklin and Walter Benjamin, Alexander the Great and Samuel Alexander, Erasmus of Rotterdam and Erasmus Darwin, Edmund Spenser and Herbert Spencer, Bertrand Russell and Peter Russell, Giordano Bruno and Bruno Latour
https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/1116415279955881984?s=19
Remembering Aravind N. Das (1949-2000) whose India Invented on DD3 used to be such a breath of fresh air. Also Surendra Pratap Singh (1948-1997) who changed the news scenario with his Aaj Tak. Sensational murder of Irfan Hussain, a fine cartoonist is also etched on the mind still.
https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/1116224229630971904?s=19
Ancient Egyptian civilization is where the roots of most religions and culture lie but is never discussed much. Most Indian temple architecture and sculpture owe their origin to it. There are much other indebtedness in mythology, legends, philosophy, etc. https://t.co/5rZRUb7fsG
https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/1115875519336210433?s=19
While Larry Seidlitz lays bare "Sri Aurobindo’s treatment of emotions as the center stage for all suffering, perversion, and obscurity" as well as liberation from them, the elaboration lacks practical utility. Thus reliance on common sense remains relevant https://t.co/4zZIoMwnOr
https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/967332093725376514?s=19
Reimagining and Refashioning Integral Management - Tusar Nath Mohapatra, Savitri Era Learning Forum (SELF) Ghaziabad https://t.co/YGoEhdLyp7
“The universe doesn’t seem to care one whit about the fact that we are here—in that sense, we are insignificant” https://t.co/e9rZ1BVZMY
https://twitter.com/five_books/status/1116755454456152065?s=19
“It’s a bit hard to tell what Hume’s own view was. Was he an atheist? Was he an agnostic? Was he a deist? He covers his tracks pretty carefully in the Dialogues.”
Professor Graham Oppy on atheist philosophy of religion. https://t.co/d7FNxh60xH
"Kierkegaard had a huge influence on 20th-century philosophy, but his philosophy is very rich and complex. It has religious, theological, and spiritual dimensions as well as the more forward-looking, modern themes that people might be more familiar with." https://t.co/RretmfFsFs
“I began to realise that failure could be an extraordinary catalyst for self-growth”
@elizabday recommends books to help you cope with failure:
https://t.co/PROCmQMRjz
Essential reading for understanding today's world — a list by (and interview with) @georgemonbiot: https://t.co/y3cm4XrMiJ
Zoology teaches you about the wonders of the living world, but it doesn’t teach you anything else. I was extremely frustrated as a student that my course was so narrow. I wanted to know about philosophy, history, literature and politics.
There were so many other issues, but we were living in a specialist bubble. I think it’s crazy when you’re that young to have to narrow your interests so severely. So, I came out of this elite education knowing almost nothing of the world. Slowly, both through experience and reading during those six years, I began to develop some inkling of an understanding of the world. But that process of education continues to this day.
#ontheshelves in Oxford this week, 'Moral Psychology with Nietzche' by Brian Leiter, which offers a new interpretation of Nietzsche's views on morality and its intersection with empirical psychology https://t.co/MSMt0yeN6R https://t.co/LJhCnBr80R
#MirraAlfassaTheMother #SpiritualTeacher buy it from Amazon. https://t.co/09eAilrkfm
https://twitter.com/SunayanaPanda/status/1116596612267032577?s=19
#BookReview by Raman Reddy of Auroville – A Dream Hijacked written by Nirmalya Mukherjee https://t.co/KGOSYc7oVC #Auroville #SriAurobindo
https://twitter.com/IndiaFactsOrg/status/1114493620743176192?s=19
The Body Beautiful. An Aurobindonian perspective https://t.co/SJYumeu1aa
https://twitter.com/drsbasu2115/status/1115234062140993536?s=19
'Renaissance' is the monthly e-journal of Sri Aurobindo Foundation for Indian Culture (SAFIC).Keep visiting the page for many inspirational writings on India, it's culture, religion, philosophy, literature, history, polity and many other aspects.
https://t.co/uenmSZvizF
https://twitter.com/Sampadananda/status/1115627783395401728?s=19
There cannot be a more authentic record than the Reminiscences of Nolini Kanto Gupta who was all along with Sri Aurobindo from November, 1910, onwards except for two or three short spells of absence, and we reproduce long extracts from it.
https://twitter.com/CLINGTOTRUTH/status/1115289845260120064?s=19
What is the nature of #RomanticLove? You'll be surprised at the answer!
Check out the #ReintegrationBlog at https://t.co/SWZGjPCTgU
#Love #TrueNatureOfRomanticLove #Romance #InnerBeing #InnerPolarities #MergingInnerPolarities #Consciousness #Relationships #PersonalTransformation https://t.co/mu6T2hxedf
https://twitter.com/yreintegration/status/1113757863481151489?s=19
"Being a novelist," declares Pamuk, "is the art of being both naive and reflective at the same time."
https://t.co/DsbDfkUqet
https://twitter.com/Hashestweets/status/1116201930810953731?s=19
It has Abrahamic roots rather than western in the sense of Hellenic or Greco-Roman.This innate character of dominating & exploitation of nature comes from the biblical accounts of creation & genesis. Old Europe or pre-christian Europe was different in that sense
https://twitter.com/WHF_Global/status/1113698995161915392?s=19
Plasim Radar
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Seeking for the Highest Levels of Human Fulfillment - The reaction to the materialistic age and its failures, its mind-numbing, soul-killing attempt to satiate vital desire and physical comfort at the expense ...
Edith Hall on Aristotle, public-facing philosophy, and blogs - While not focused on Indian philosophy, the short article by Edith Hall notes that public-facing philosophy goes back to the roots of the Western tradition...
THE MOTHER’S SAVITRI: Book 2 Canto 9 - "A giant drop of the Bliss unknowable Overwhelmed his limbs and round his soul became A fiery ocean of felicity: ... The rapture that the gods sustain he b...
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Social media is - Social media is not meant to be misused to generate controversies or sensationalism as already MSM is in that business and they are big time players in tha...
Why Sen was wrong about the Paretian Liberal - Suppose we all agreed that a cat is a four legged animal which purrs and says meow. I get down on all fours and purr and say meow. Am I a cat? No. Because ...
Ken Wilber on the “Pre/Trans Fallacy” - I’ve been reading Ken Wilber’s The Atman Project: A Transpersonal View of Human Development (1980). It is quite insightful in some respects, and quite lack...
Diversifying the Curriculum - I’m running a workshop at the 2019 Society for the Study of Theology conference about “diversifying the curriculum”. We’re talking about some different mod...
A Series Inspired by India’s Rebirth – I - I feel fortunate to be given an opportunity to write a series of articles for Sri Aurobindo’s Action: A Journal of India’s Resurgence, a monthly journal ...
On translating out of order - Last time I expressed my gratitude and praise for Matthew Dasti and Stephen Phillips’s much-needed recent selective translation of the … Continue reading →
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