Sri Aurobindo gives a collective element to spiritual quest

Dr. Lingis was interviewed by Edyta Niemyjska on November 23rd, 2012 © Alphonso Lingis and Figure Ground Communication. 

Alphonso Lingis is an American philosopher, writer and translator, currently Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Pennsylvania State University. He specializes in phenomenology, existentialism, and ethics… His latest books are The First Person Singular (2007), Violence and Splendor (2010) and Contact (2011).

I wrote something about the temples of Khajuraho in India that I had visited. After that, I decided I needed to write about the things that moved me most deeply… The concept of imperative in that book came from Merleau-Ponty and from Levinas.

Practicing Yoga without a Guru by Sandeep

Sometimes, people who are raised in an atheistic environment in the West mistakenly declaim obeisances before the Samadhi and relics as signs of a recessive “religion” rather than progressive “spirituality”.  Obviously, the word “religion” connotes different things to different people.  In the West, “religion” implies obesiance to an ethical, anthropomorphic, extra-cosmic God while “spirituality” implies finding the spiritual light within.  As a result, bowing to any external entity automatically summons subconscious anxieties of “Yoga turning into a religion”. In India, where the sharp cleavage between “religion” and “spirituality” never existed, spiritual seekers have long recognized the potency of vibrations emitted by the Samadhi and the relics of a departed sage… It is crucial to develop some contact with Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, who continue to exist behind the veil, because it can provide you with a measure of protection from the kinds of yogic illness seen earlier.

Tweets 1h Sangeeta Goswami ‏@SangeetaRG In #SriAurobindosYoga, fulfillment of d consciousness, the urge for perfection is not confined to few individuals but extend to the masses.

SRI AUROBINDO: Unprecedented and Unparalleled - Speakingtree.in By: Ramesh Bijlani on Nov 23, 2012

What were the major strands in his writing? Just to enumerate a few, he corrected the widespread but erroneous idea that there is a dichotomy between worldly life and spiritual life. Worldly life can, and should, be lived with a spiritual attitude. Hence, Sri Aurobindo’s spiritual philosophy, which rejects no part of the being, finds application in education, healthcare, management, and just about any worthwhile human activity. Secondly, man is a transitional being. If the evolution so far is any indication, future evolution will take consciousness to a level beyond that of mental consciousness, which has reached its peak in human beings.

Evolution beyond the mental level can be accelerated by more and more of us engaging consciously in raising our consciousness. This gives a collective element to spiritual quest. Sri Aurobindo’s spiritual philosophy was given a practical shape in his Ashram by the Mother, who was born in France but after coming here in 1920 did not leave Pondicherry for even a single day till she left her body in 1973. Although Sri Aurobindo and the Mother did not leave Pondicherry physically once they were there, their influence has spread throughout the world, and is growing with time. (24 November is celebrated as Sri Aurobindo’s Siddhi Day)

Squint-Eyed Scholarship – by Nileen Putatunda from Critique of The Lives

I must say that I was disappointed with the scholarship in this part-serious, part-frivolous effort by Heehs… In his book, Peter Heehs made ample efforts to focus on the trivial: in four places, he refers to supposed pockmarks on Sri Aurobindo’s face. In five places, he describes Aurobindo as short – around five feet, four inches – and in a way that is disparaging… Heehs descends to mischievousness when he tries to portray a romantic relationship between Sri Aurobindo and his spiritual collaborator, the Mother. 

Rhetorical Swiss-Knives : Part 2 from Centre Right India by Siddhartha Chatterjee - Conspiracy Theory

When Web 2.0 took off, internet was suddenly filled with numerous blogs, forums etc. Gone were the days of BBS, yahoo groups or google groups. For a brief period, some of us hoped that internet will make information sharing easy and it will open newer frontier in terms of discussion and engagement. We forgot that internet users are parts of the society, when they come to the keyboard they come with all the baggage society managed to fill them with already. Therefore, you can have m number of sites explaining the scientific cause of eclipse, but then you will have n number of sites explaining how it is all a conspiracy to keep public from knowing “real truth” whatever that may be…

In our childhood, grandmotherly figures used to tell us about the fantasy stories where charming handsome princes used to kill demons to rescue princesses or their own parents. That tradition may have been lost in the age of small families, video games and cable tv. That is not the point however. As we grew up, we tried to match those simple stories against the real world. Part of the reasons growing up is a painful process because those simple narratives do not live up to the complexities of the world. Figuratively speaking, those charming prince look-alike seem to have a deal with the devil, beautiful princess look-alike appear to be more interested to hook up with dangerous bad boys than being rescued from them and those who look like heroes from one angle looks like villains from another.

This is the twilight zone modern civilization often lands us into. In left’s world-view that so strongly relies on black-or-white mode of thinking, there is no answer for this twilight zone. The simpler narrative that relies on stereotype straw-figures like CIA/corporate/fascist etc is alluring to the teenagers and students because they just began to deal with the real world. Eventually, most of them grow out of it. That is why the famous saying about being a communist at 20 and leaving communism at 40 is so popular… Left’s toxic conspiracy theories take shape and mutate in this fertile ground of imagination and shape a very twisted and distorted world view that many of my co-citizens share. 

The Hindu : NATIONAL KARNATAKA : Exhibition of photographs

The Chaitanyamayi Trust and the Sri Aurobindo Society are organising an exhibition of rare photographs of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother from November 25 to...

Helios Books' Launch: “Talks by Nirodbaran” at Sri Aurobindo ...

We are happy to release the book Talks by Nirodbaran at the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education on 23 November 2012 in the Hall of Harmony, Sri ... 

Indian history mauled by Marxists

Vacancy Upstairs? from Centre Right India by Jaideep Prabhu

In India, at least when it comes to policy-making, it is not only reforms that is needed but intellectual capital, and that is a decades-long project… Not only does the country lack in erudite statesmen, but it also has no concept of an open society… Due to poor funding and frustrating regulations in India’s educations sector, there is not a single Indian university that stands out for an exceptional humanities programme. The average Indian’s aversion to the humanities has also hurt recruitment to the arts, but with poor faculty, atrocious library collections, a pervasive Marxist bias, and non-existent little opportunity in government or business, there is little to motivate young students to opt for the humanities over professional schools which will in all likelihood result in better-paying jobs. India lacks not only a talent pool of young and budding humanities scholars but also the mindset to develop such a workforce.

Mahatma Gandhi’s True Legacy from The Rediscovery of India by Sandeep B

Bereft of all frills, Gandhi’s actual legacy is just twofold. One, he killed the spirit of free, fearless and robust intellectual discourse, which was thriving until the time of Balagangadhar Tilak and later, briefly, Aurobindo Ghosh. It is worth recalling what D.V. Gundappa wrote (which I’ve translated earlier) in this connection as early as 1928. “Thus the national atmosphere of discourse quickly became one where nobody could ever think of something different from what Gandhi thought. The minds of the general public—both literate and otherwise—soon became habituated to conformity, which then turned to blind loyalty towards a partisan idea.”

MK Gandhi was an opponent of the socialist ideology Arvind Kumar DNA Monday, October 1, 2012

Socialists around the world never fail to use the name of Mohandas Gandhi to push their agenda. However, Gandhi was far from being a leftist, and his political positions were in direct opposition to the left…

India’s history books in the past sixty years have been written by Marxists, and Gandhi’s views have been distorted to fit in with the Marxist agenda. These books suppress Gandhi’s views on Marxism and socialism and instead present a sanitized version of history with Gandhi merely as a hero to be worshiped before invoking the doctrine of socialism. Instead of deifying Gandhi as a Mahatma and blindly worshiping him, Indians would do well to objectively examine his works and understand his political views. The author can be reached at arvind@classical-liberal.net

Gandhi resisted ‘digestion’ by the West; we must too by Rajiv Malhotra Oct 2, 2012 Firstpost

If yoga’s Hindu roots create such anxiety by challenging Western religious pre-eminence, then how might Gandhi, who successfully challenged Western Universalism, leading and winning India’s fight for independence non-violently, fare in the West? Already we see attempts to co-opt Gandhi. A recent bizarre incident uncovering Gandhi’s posthumous baptism by the Mormon Church is an example of one such attempt of laying claim to him. (Gandhi himself deplored the practice of conversion by Christian missionaries in India).

Most Western authors on Gandhi will emphasise the influence of the New Testament on Gandhi. Indeed Gandhi spoke favourably of many passages in the New Testament and of Jesus, but never as passionately or as extensively as he did of the faith to which he belonged. In fact, Gandhi was being entirely true to his pluralistic Hindu beliefs in his respect for all faiths and not just his own.

In Peace Education studies in American universities, Gandhi’s success is attributed largely to the “context” – the apparent benevolence of British colonists in providing the fertile field on which he could exercise his non-violent agitation. (Gandhi himself had said that non-violent resistance could work in most situations, albeit with great sacrifice). Gandhi is routinely discussed in virtual isolation from his followers, the large and diverse group of eminent thinkers, and the Indian masses who very early embraced Gandhi’s non-violent practices spontaneously.

If Gandhi led, then millions of Indians, similarly inspired, agreed wholeheartedly and followed. Keeping Gandhi, but dumping his Hindu influences is already being attempted in Western scholarship. Fortunately, Gandhi, a prolific writer documented his own life and struggles quite extensively. Moreover, as his writings record, he dove deep into Indian culture, drawing upon it to frame the Indian independence struggle in terms that would resonate with his countrymen. His autobiography reveals that his moral life was anchored in his Hindu faith. In my view, Gandhi (and his ideas) resisted digestion because, quite cannily, he used Sanskrit words to give voice to India’s struggle and demands. Words like satyagraha, swadeshi,swaraj, ahimsa, sva-dharma became an integral part of the lexicon of the Indian freedom struggle. By using these words and not their English equivalents, Gandhi preserved the complete range of their complex meanings, their dharmic origins and their cultural context.

A Must Read for Students of Indian HIstory May 25, 2011 By V. Lakshminarayanan The crux of the message of the book was saved for the last two chapters, 'Epilogue' and 'Hindsight-Foresight'. The two chapters provide a revealing commentary on the discourse of Indian history in our own time:

First, it is the story of the politicians of the Indian National Congress hijacking history and claiming exclusive credit for the departure of British from India… Second is the tragedy of the Indian history being held hostage by the Marxists and the Indian academics who are under the intellectual slavery of the Macaulay influenced English education. Unfortunately this hijacked history has been accepted by the mainstream population which is an even greater tragedy. A nation which does not know where it came from and how it got there will not know where it is going, and will not get where it wants to. "Tatya Topé's Operation Red Lotus" is a must reading all students of Indian history, for it logically resolves many of the puzzling events of 1857 war and provides the total picture in a clearer perspective.

Based in USA, Parag Topé is the founder and part owner of Vistarus. A relentless passion for history, combined with a master's degree in engineering and an MBA in strategy, makes Parag the chief architect of the book.  

Marriage is not like a public transport system

Tweet 1h - MediaCrooks ‏@mediacrooks Here are real remarks by Sriprakash Jaiswal (Hindi) clear as crystal... श्रीप्रकाश का भद्दा बयान- औरत पुरानी होने पर मजा कम हो जाता है Updated: Tuesday, October 2, 2012, Posted by: Ajay कानपुर। "नई नई जीत और नई नई पत्‍नी का जश्‍न सब मनाते हैं। जैसे जैसे समय बीतेगा, जीत पुरानी होती जाती है, जैसे जैसे समय बीतता है पत्‍नी पुरानी होती जाती है, वो मजा नहीं रहता है।"

Shriprakash Jaiswal slammed for sexist comment Deccan Herald- Lucknow, Oct 2, 2012, (IANS): Women groups reacted strongly Tuesday to union Coal Minister Shriprakash Jaiswal's comment that "once a wife gets old, she loses her charm" ...  Jaiswal, also a Congress Lok Sabha member, made the unsavoury comment at a poetry meet at K.K. Girls College in Kidwai Nagar in Kanpur Sunday night… Referring to the T20 match between India and Pakistan that India won, Jaiswal had said: "Fresh victory and a fresh marriage is something different." He went on to say that as a marriage grows old with time, it loses its charm as the wife also gets old.

Obey wife and be happy, reiterates Supreme Court judge ... 22 May 2009 – New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) An irrepressible Justice Markandey Katju of the Supreme Court, known for his lighthearted remarks, Friday ended up reiterating himself when he said obeying one’s wife was the way to a happy life!

Obey your wife and rule the world: Supreme Court ...‎ - 20 May 2009 New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) The Supreme Court has a recipe for a successful marriage, more so for men: Obey your wife and rule the world!
“Bibi joh boltee hai woh sunno (Listen to whatever your wife says). We all listen,” a vacation bench of Justice Markandeya Katju and Justice Deepak Verma observed while hearing a lawsuit by Indian Air Force officer Deepak Kumar, who had complained that his estranged wife Manisha had ruined him and his family by implicating them in false criminal cases including sodomy.

“Hum sab bhuktbhogi hai (We all have undergone that experience),” the bench observed. “If your wife wants you to see this side, see this side. If she wants you to see the other side, do obey her,” said Katju, adding: “One who obeys his wife rules the world.”

Why Justice Bhaktavatsala's homilies are no better than ... - Firstpost 5 Sep 2012 – Justice Bhaktavatsala, a Karnataka High Court judge, has just spoken aloud what Indian television feeds the country slyly everyday… Bhaktavatsala in the past couple of days has managed to amuse, outrage and shock people with his courtroom oratory. An example:

“Women suffer in all marriages. You are married with two children, and know what it means to suffer as a woman. Yesterday, there was a techie couple who reconciled for the sake of their child. Your husband is doing good business, he will take care of you.” 

If that wasn’t enough fodder for ridicule, one has to hear what he has to say about unmarried lawyers arguing marriage-related cases.

“Family matters should be argued only by married people, not spinsters. You should only watch. Bachelors and spinsters watching family court proceedings will start thinking if there is any need to marry at all. Marriage is not like a public transport system. You better get married and you will get very good experience to argue such cases,” he advised her.

Sibal slams Wardha VC for calling women writers 'prostitutes ... 2 Aug 2010 – NEW DELHI: But Rai, who was an IPS officer, was unperturbed and felt it was no more than literary discussion. Speaking from Wardha, he said, "The word chhinal does not mean prostitute. Even Premchand has used it more than a hundred times." According to him, "I only said for many women writers, discourse on women has become discourse of the body. I said women should include others like tribals and dalits to make their battle more effective."

VC Rai apologizes for sexist remark - Times Of India 4 Aug 2010 – NEW DELHI: Vibhuti Narayan Rai, vice-chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi Antarashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, Wardha, … However, on Sunday, the same Rai had justified the use of the term `chhinal' (loose character) for women writers. He had said even Munshi Premchand, the foremost Hindi writer, had used the word`chhinal' more than a hundred times. In his interview, he had said there was a competition among women writers to prove who was a bigger loose character. Later, Rai said he was merely talking about the need for change in women's discourse. Asked about possible action by HRD ministry, he had said his comments were as a writer. 

Finding a genuinely encompassing compassionate truth

Oldtimer • 16 days ago There are more secularisms in India than religions, so you better disclose right upfront which secularism you belong to… European secularism is not secular (don't ask me according to which definition of secular). It is a Christian concept. 

jasonbourne • 16 days ago People like Ambedkar make this wrong assumption that Hindus have to follow Manu Smriti which never was the case. Manu like Kamasutra became famous because of the British. So we should stop obsessing over Manu smriti which was never meant to be infallible in the first place.

Vijay Kumar • 14 days ago • parent Hinduism is brought into the discussion because Hindutva is offering a resistance to move towards secular/liberal position (which would be in line with the first amendment, as supported by Mr. Harsh Gupta).

Susheel Mehta • 16 days ago Dear Harsha, Thanks for a wonderful write-up. As always your arguments are marvels of clarity. But I would like to register specific issues of disagreement: 1. You confuse Dharma with Dharmashastras. That is akin to confusing Physics the subject with Physics the book written by Aristotle. While the former is more of a meta-framework, the latter a seminal and important contribution, but not the last word…

7. I may be wrong about my contentions. But the point is that social theorists have not examined with clarity the strength and challenges of our society and its internal dynamics. Rather the idea is always to look it through western experience.

Live: Kejriwal party launch looks a bit like a cultural show Firstpost

Nizken September 24, 2012 at 12:38 am Sandeep, just curious…..where and how do you find the time to post all this information from?

Sandeep September 24, 2012 at 1:35 pm The pedestrian explanation is that it is the work of several years. The modern yogi has to know western philosophy, other religions, linguistics, physics, biology, psychology, neuroscience, sociology because they are all investigating, albeit partially, the same realm of consciousness. The spiritual explanation is that other burdens are decreased with progress on the spiritual path… Sandeep December 29, 2011 at 11:35 am Some people might call us loony as well for believing in the existence of occult spirits

Karl Popper, the enemy of certainty, part 4: Lakatos, Kuhn and Feyerabend The Guardian (blog) - ‎Oct 1, 2012‎ Liz Williams This diverse trio drove the philosophy of science forwards with their responses to Popper's theory of falsification

Lakatos's views form a halfway house between Kuhn and Popper (he was a student of the latter), and his approach is often considered to be a more nuanced form of falsificationism.

A more anarchic approach – literally – is offered by Feyerabend. Auxiliary hypotheses are critical, he argues, but may be irrational. In fact, it's impossible to develop any set of methodological rules by which scientists work: ad hoc, rule-breaking postulates are the order of the day. We seem to be heading at full speed towards epistemological relativism here, and indeed, according to Feyerabend, this is the case: not only does science fail to proceed according to fixed principles, but it doesn't deserve its epistemic privileges, either. Far out! So if your preference is for Feyerabend over Popper, astrologers might be on to something, after all.

Occam’s Razor and the Theory of Rebirth from Sri Aurobindo Studies 

Occam’s razor, which essentially is the concept that when all other things are equal, the simplest explanation will tend to be the best, is a useful conceptual tool in many fields of life, and helps us avoid bogging down in needless complexity,–thereby helping us sort out theories that have “too many moving parts” to sustain serious scrutiny. This is especially helpful when it comes to practical matters in the material world, but it is not always the answer! Sri Aurobindo uses the example of the simple explanation of the “theory of the spheres” as an explanation of astronomical events. Today we have a much more detailed and complex understanding, as well as the ability to observe many more facts that need to be covered by any solution.

This becomes a question because the theory of rebirth and the corollary law of karma actually is a quite good example of “Occam’s razor”. Sri Aurobindo explains: “The theory of rebirth coupled with that of Karma gives us a simple, symmetrical, beautiful explanation of things…”

If we accepted Occam’s razor as a determining factor, we would have to admit that rebirth and karma are the best explanation we have for the facts of our existence. Sri Aurobindo cautions however, that while this may provide us “moral certitude”, it does not yet constitute certainty or absolute proof and thus, much more examination of the question is warranted. Rebirth and Karma, Section I, Chapter 1, Rebirth, pp. 6-7

Précis of “Beyond enacted experiences” from Love of All Wisdom by Amod Lele - Oct 1, 2012

Wilber can take this approach because he claims repeatedly that the “core” or “essentials” of these traditions are constituted by replicable mystical experiences: one follows certain practices, such as prayer or meditation, and will then reliably achieve certain states of consciousness as a result. Wilber’s philosophy is then above all an attempt to integrate the knowledge of science with the knowledge derived from these states of consciousness. The problem with this approach is simple: these replicable mystical experiences simply are not the core of the vast majority of traditions out there…

The point of this criticism is to establish that replicable mystical experience is simply not the “core” or “essentials” of the premodern traditions. The view that it is, is a construct of the 19th-century quest for a “perennial philosophy” with perennial answers to the great questions. But while I have long agreed that there are perennial questions, I do not buy the claim that they have perennial answers, and certainly not that mystical experience supplies those answers universally. The perennial questions are perennially disputed, with answers going in multiple directions. In my view, a synthesis between different views needs to be found dialectically. One cannot put the traditions together by assuming that they are the same at their heart, whether in terms of mystical experience or anything else — for they aren’t. Instead, one must start with their differences as given, and take those differences as a starting point from which a mature and complex synthesis can be worked out. That’s harder, but as far as I can tell, it’s the only way to find a genuinely encompassing truth. And no empiricist method will get you there, not even one that incorporates mystical experiences alongside scientific ones.

Value Experience from The Pinocchio Theory by Steven Shaviro

Following Stengers, I'd like to consider what it might really mean to refrain from defacing value experiences. I take it that this largely applies to the "value experiences" of others than ourselves. And respecting the value experiences of others is not always an easy thing to do. I certainly don't want religious fundamentalists who deny the theory of evolution and claim that the Earth is only 6,000 years old to be teaching my children. But living as an atheist in a common world with religious believers, I also reject defacing the value experience of those believers, in the way that "New Atheists" like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and the late Christopher Hitchens have done. I also want to work through the implications of Whitehead's claim that such "value experience… is the very essence of the universe." But doing this demands that we pass beyond the human. 

Notes on Muriel Combes’ book on Simondon from The Pinocchio Theory by Steven Shaviro

Both Stiegler and Simondon are problematic from a Marxist point of view. One might criticize Stiegler for turning a particular historical situation (that of alienation under capitalism) into an originary characteristic of the human species in general. While much in Stiegler's critique of capitalism is spot-on, he turns cultural symptoms into to basic existential situations, while omitting to consider capital accumulation & exploitation as the motors of capitalism.

नई शुरुआत फिर से दैनिक जागरण Mon, 01 Oct 2012

महात्मा गांधी और महर्षि अरविन्द के जीवन इसके जीवंत उदाहरण हैं। गांधी जी कोई दक्षिण अफ्रीका में क्रांति करने नहीं गए थे। वे वहां वकालत करने गए थे, लेकिन परिस्थितियों ने उन्हें इसके लिए मजबूर कर दिया कि वे स्वतंत्रता के लिए संघर्ष शुरू करें और दक्षिण अफ्रीका से शुरू हुआ संघर्ष ही उन्हें भारत तक ले आया। ठीक इसी तरह महर्षि अरविंद ने योग-अध्यात्म की दिशा में सोचा भी नहीं था। उन्होंने भारत को अंगे्रजी शासन से स्वतंत्र कराने का स्वप्न देखा था और इसके लिए क्रांति का मार्ग अपनाया। उन्होंने लंबे समय तक संघर्ष भी किया, लेकिन इसके बाद राजनीति या किसी अन्य रास्ते पर जाने के बजाय उन्होंने अध्यात्म का मार्ग चुना। बाद में इन दोनों ही विभूतियों को जिन कारणों से दुनिया भर में जाना गया, वे परिस्थितियों के चलते उनके जीवन में आए बदलाव के परिणाम थे। परिस्थितियों ने ही उनके सामने उनके उद्देश्य को स्पष्ट किया और उन्होंने अपने वास्तविक लक्ष्य की दिशा में प्रयास शुरू किए।

1m - Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty One-stop blog for curing all theoretical confusion and muddled thinking just a click away at Savitri Era Learning Forum Posted by Tusar N. Mohapatra  Location: Shipra Riviera, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India