Rich mélange of humour, solemnity, horror and poignancy

Those familiar with Holland’s oeuvre will already be acquainted with his extraordinary talent for fusing gripping story telling with historical narrative and his latest work, Dominion proves no exception. Poignant vignettes of saintliness and sacrifice coalesce with visceral anecdotes of barbarism, fanaticism, revolution and slaughter as the narrative sashays its way through the epochs before arriving at its post-modernist terminus. 

... as a Muslim I concede I’m perhaps not best placed to adjudicate dispassionately. As with In the Shadow of the Sword before it, the dark blemishes of the author’s prepossessions and confirmation bias – the bane of genuine historical enquiry – maculate the pages of Dominion. Holland began his career as a fiction writer, and one gets the feeling it is a field he has never fully abandoned. The need to entertain, to shock and to inspire pathos vie with historical accuracy and balance, the hallmarks of academic disquisitions, but it’s to the former the author invariably lends greater weight. Given the commercial considerations of publishing houses (dry, factual, analytic history books don’t sell in the tens of thousands) it’s an understandable methodology but then the reader should be aware that popular history constitutes a very different genre to its academic counterpart.

...

As is too often the case when it comes to such topics, Holland is guilty of telling only half the story and of carefully curating the facts for his readers.

...

Personally, I have difficulty buying into the idea that post facto expressions of remorse for cold blooded acts of depravity are in any way exculpatory or even remotely mitigatory. Whenever the West’s supposed “universal love” ethic has collided with the exigencies of dominion (pun intended) it has always been the former that has given way to the latter.

...

If the ascent of the West could be traced back to a single moment in time, then it would surely be the day a German priest and professor of theology (of then minor repute) nailed his dissertation reproving the sale of indulgences to the door of All Saints’ church in Wittenberg. And even if the anecdote itself might be apocryphal its after-effects most certainly were not.

...

Modernity, as we understand it today in a Western European context was not bred then from the marrow of Christian thought as much as it was an escapee from it. It represented the penultimate stage in a long process of releasing the metaphysical bindings which had for so long held people in thrall. When Nietzsche declared God to be dead he was declaring in effect, that every man (and woman) was henceforth their own god. It is a message that in the one hundred and twenty years since his passing has found widespread acceptance across Western Europe. While, as Holland points out, Nietzsche had lamented that Christianity’s sternutatory pollen still afflicted European noses back in the late 1800s, were he a witness to our current post-modernist era I suspect his mood would be far more upbeat.

...

I began this review by lauding Holland’s literary talents and with Dominion he has delivered, in a manner only he can, a thoroughly captivating tale, bursting with the spirit and energy of its protagonists, and one guaranteed to hold its readers in thrall until the very final page. Superbly written in his distinctive punchy style, one senses an almost hymnal rhythm to the prose, punctuated by occasional ribaldry and with a soupcon of dry English wit. Holland’s rich mélange of humour, solemnity, horror and poignancy is served with an elegance few writers could hope to emulate. And as the West grasps for meaning in the age of agnosticism and atheism, Dominion provides, for those willing to look beyond the façade, a revealing insight into the perturbations of its intelligentsia. As a work of literature, it is as sublime as it is enchanting. As an intellectual thesis it is singularly unconvincing, fatally undermined by the obvious prepossessions of its author. That it will be warmly received and embraced with alacrity by its target demographic, I suppose is a given. But in the end posterity will be the judge of whether the idea it propounds succeeds in taking root and bearing fruit.

Posted by MASKED AVENGER on AUGUST 16, 2020

https://maskedavenger1.wordpress.com/2020/08/16/book-reivew-dominion/

[Ok, so I've finally published my musings on @holland_tom's latest book Dominion (it was recently released in paperback). It's long (9700 words) but of all my blog posts over the years I really do recommend you read this one.] https://t.co/24lzETkuKY

https://evergreenessays.blogspot.com/2020/08/an-almost-hymnal-rhythm-to-prose.html?m=1

Literary sources, Perceptions, and Reasoned assumption

#ExpressResearch| Seven decades after India freed itself from the clutches of British rule, how exactly is the political philosophy of Sri Aurobindo remembered?

https://t.co/eGRSp66HKA

https://twitter.com/IndianExpress/status/1292694666513657856?s=19

OPINION | This National Education Policy Is Something Sri Aurobindo Had Envisioned For A Liberated Indian Mind

#NEP2020 @HRDMinistry

 https://t.co/WOULa1vPeb

https://twitter.com/soumitra65/status/1292101748320923648?s=19

When the Zoroastrian (Parsi) refugees first arrived in India seeking asylum, they introduced themselves to the local king-

"We are the descendants of Jamshid (Yama).We venerate the cow (gāv), Sun (Khworshid) and moon (mahtāb). We hold dear the cow(gāv), water(āb) and fire(ātash)" https://t.co/NfU81UozCr

The Zoroastrian refugees also had a special request. In the city where they would establish their Zoroastrian holy fire (Atash E Bahram), " There should not be a single non Zoroastrian (dar ānjāi yaki joddin nabāyad). Otherwise they feared their ritual would not work" https://t.co/3auIyyPHWH

There are many similarities. There are many differences. At one point in the very remote past, both the religions may have shared a common origin but that was certainly the case later. They developed significant differences

https://twitter.com/TIinExile/status/1292562275216154624?s=19

When Ashoka became Buddhist: 4th year of his rule.

When he invaded Kalinga: 8th year.

Ashoka was a BUDDHIST when he waged Kalinga war.

After war,he killεd 18,000 Non-Buddhists who allegedly "insulted Buddhism".

Whom do they finally blame? Yes, Hindus and Hinduism https://t.co/lZ8bWARWaQ

https://twitter.com/TIinExile/status/1292135149761490945?s=19

No, this is incorrect. Can you tell me something about ancient Indian history where archaeological and literary sources are in perfect agreement?

Try that YOURSELF. You will find NOTHING. What you are arguing here is a perfect straw man. Nobody said there are NO discrepancies.

https://twitter.com/TIinExile/status/1292493010224087041?s=19

You will not find anything about Ancient Indian history where literary & archaeological sources are in complete agreement. Does that mean we have to dismiss all our literature and epigraphic records?

If so, you might as well dismiss every single information about Ancient India

Does that mean literary records are all wrong? 

No. On the contrary, Guruge says the reliability of literary sources has been proven beyond doubt and they are not inferior to inscriptions when it comes to their reliability. https://t.co/ADSmo4wdCX

So when the literary source says that Ashoka become a Buddhist in the fourth year of his coronation, there is really nothing in the literary source which merits any dismissal, apart from the bias of some scholars who somehow seem to believe inscriptional sources hold more value

If you read Sanjeev Sanyal's work, he again made a amazing point that these edicts are no way near the erstwhile Kalinga but in far fetched North Western frontiers and areas far flung from Kalinga. So they can be a propaganda tool as well!

https://twitter.com/BahulyaRishi/status/1292476807678005248?s=19

Ravana kidnapped Sitamata and kept her in Ashok Vatika. That means Ashoka was born before Lord Rama. Otherwise how come there was a garden named Ashok Vatika?

Thanks those history writers for not considering this.

https://twitter.com/ShArd_Ar/status/1292407915895115776?s=19

I said Devi was Hindu.There is just a small reference about Devi that she was a merchant's daughter from https://t.co/td88qMDtGy other evidence or proof so ofcourse it's quite clear we hv to take the help of reasoned  assumption. Bcoz no other evidence is available.

https://twitter.com/rubygupta18/status/1292761245930516481?s=19

Yes, History is mostly based on perceptions. Remember the saying"History is always written by victors".

https://twitter.com/rubygupta18/status/1292441788716785664?s=19

Perceptions and Reasoned assumption. https://t.co/AJWqewMlxs

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1292806183565144069?s=19

Odisha situation is interesting as some are exasperated that Jagannath is reluctant to give right of way to Rama. Today #Kalinga and #Ashoka also are at loggerheads. Not to mortgage one's intelligence to some grand narrative is the task. Reading #SriAurobindo can open new vistas.

Disinformation campaigns have multiplied and institutional initiative needed to unearth truth. But a basic challenge is to accept the new interpretation of the Veda by Sri Aurobindo so that falsehoods can be dismantled. Research on root sounds will open many pathways to meaning.

What The Mother & Sri Aurobindo mean by All life is yoga is the need for remembering that no one is separate. This is a scientific fact and how it operates for each person is unique. Since remembering is a conscious action, it spurs Evolutionary trigger for fighting the adversary

Rescuing light or transparency from obscurity and falsehood is the Vedic task. Banning of some foreign Apps can be seen in this light but the challenge is enormous. Commercial motive is to profit by information asymmetry but the political duty is to break nexus and goad scrutiny.

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1292155803684626433?s=19

RW worthies have ensured that my tweets don't reach them but a slight appreciation would have prepared them for greater tasks in future. Grasping at old quotations from Sri Aurobindo is not the right clue at present. We are indicating many lines of action, but lukewarm reception!

Life is nothing but change and different seasons keep on reminding. Religion however is static or at least most like to believe it that way. Modern gurus in India have succeeded in infusing some dynamism but intellectual content is meagre. Awareness about Sri Aurobindo is too low

Many are allergic to Secularism and Liberalism and believe them to have been created by Communists. But it's a wrong conception. These principles have evolved over many centuries and through enormous sacrifice. Understanding that is necessary instead of sloganeering or parroting.

Some handles are spreading hatred against Urdu but each and every song sung by Mohammad Rafi has Urdu words. How to reverse that? And, if at all it becomes possible then half of my individuality will also vanish. When young, it was Radio Ceylon; now YouTube. Nothing Indian, alas!

You are in power at the Centre and in many States

You have your persons in most Institutions

You have loyal Media houses

Your Education policy is ready

Your temple construction has commenced

So stop victimhood and whining

Stop hatred and scouting for appeasement

Live and let live

Bhakti is fine but is it not unusual in a Democracy of 138 crore people that not a single person (apart from the dynasty) is capable of aspiring for becoming the Prime Minister? No political party has even national level ambition; all are bit players. So rally round Sri Aurobindo.

For many years it was mainstream and everyone believed in the same paradigm. So much so that even Girilal Jain had to wait for his retirement. Now also most seem to have succumbed to a similar kind of smugness but Savitri Era Party keeps on reminding them about lack of legitimacy

War among religions has been a constant feature during the last two thousand years but life and society calls for a much larger horizon. The Mother & Sri Aurobindo have succeeded in presenting an alternative paradigm of Human Unity signalling collapse of present set of religions. https://t.co/7bsY11VNxu

Difficult to find even a single handle which espouses right views; to be just and fair is rare now. Perhaps, same was the case, always; but failed to notice. Sri Aurobindo is the only symbol of hope midst this gloom; an infallible touchstone to decipher dishonesty and hypocrisy.

Modi is not upto the mark as per Hindutva expectations and that goes in our favour. The more he sticks to the Constitutional propriety, the better it is for the country and its future. But the challenge is to be an instrument of Evolution and give shape to Sri Aurobindo's Dreams.

[Valmiki has drawn for us both the divine and anarchic in extraordinary proportions; an Akbar or a Napoleon might find  his spiritual kindred in Rama or Ravana. It was left  for Vyasa to create epically idealisms of conflicting moral types] - Sri Aurobindo https://t.co/oVtxjICNK3

The Gnostic Individual: the Consummation of the Spiritual Man https://t.co/CdBmbypiQh

Bat, bacteria, butter, and boulevard

Maya Deren, are you from this planet, with your windows, shadows, unsteady sunlight, falling stairs, bizarre climbing onto a dinner table, a cliff, and infinite rooms, chase a gigantic flower #cinema #surreal #film #shortfilms https://t.co/3VA2cxobTz

https://twitter.com/riminamohapatra/status/1266578661345423360?s=19

how you split yourself from afternoons strewn with beach pebbles on an expanse of sand, a key, a chess piece, lose and find objects in iterated dreams, wave to yourself or run away like stranger

a piece of broken mirror for a veiled face that says too much, yet nothing, plays on silently like the record on that record player?

Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)

At Land (1944)

Thomas Nagel asked what is it like to be a bat. Since forty years have passed one must extend the question to bacteria, butter & boulevard.

https://twitter.com/silikamohapatra/status/656720509539758080?s=19

Socrates: Who are his parents? Diotima: He's the son of Plenty & Poverty, partakes of both natures, is full & starved by turns. #symposium

https://twitter.com/silikamohapatra/status/656725556659007489?s=19

What it is like to be a fish. No water to claim. No home to name. #thestateofbeingstateless https://t.co/z4WX7GCeAa

https://twitter.com/silikamohapatra/status/656713748841783297?s=19

Another book (well, several of them) published by @BloomsburyAcad recently: Stephen Phillips' complete translation of the Tattvacintāmaṇi, in three volumes. It is definitely a library purchase! But I daresay an important one. https://t.co/VlkEt5YrQg

https://twitter.com/cmalcolmkeating/status/1282317659468705792?s=19

The heart of politics is not about the policy. It’s about the values. I can disagree with you on eight out of 10 issues, but if you’re an honorable, honest, empathetic human being, we can do business.” Trump is none of those things. Biden is most or all

 https://t.co/NpzDTFDt9Z

https://twitter.com/peterheehs/status/1282149069440221184?s=19

"I think it is very natural for everyone to want to see their ancestors and their nation as heroic. And if you can’t do heroic, then the move is to see yourself and your nation as a victim."

Sound familiar? 

https://t.co/AbsKkogwEc

https://twitter.com/peterheehs/status/1280830663201980416?s=19

You Want a Confederate Monument? My Body Is a Confederate Monument https://t.co/HHoMK9N23h

https://twitter.com/peterheehs/status/1276526579464601601?s=19

Finally got around to this interview by @_michaelbrooks over at the stoa with @peternlimberg. Highly recommended for people interested in @MattPolProf ongoing writing & thinking on the new engaged left or @jdj_writes integral leftism. https://t.co/u9maGb1Vfp

https://twitter.com/integralrising/status/1282287181986398208?s=19

"Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water."

An integral left isn't about taking a polarized stance but finding bridges; maybe first, it is working to realize that apoliticism or centrism isn't being "free" of sides. I recommend checking out the linked article.

https://twitter.com/jdj_writes/status/1282357776606539780?s=19

Unfortunately, Ken Wilber's integralism picked up a version of neoliberalism decades ago. Again, an integral left is working within a tradition — in the spirit of Aurobindo Ghose no less - of emancipation and spiritual freedom. https://t.co/vmcj58wC9I

Three suggested readings:

1) #SardarPatel's Letter to Prime Minister #Nehru (Nov 7, 1950): https://t.co/uCgvm9eo2Y

2) "Tibet In Darkness" by #Osho: https://t.co/KKel15Nk5F 

3) Sri #Aurobindo on #ChineseAggression on #Tibet and India (Nov 11, 1950): https://t.co/kmVu2Ms0fB https://t.co/xtlFWYwqnI

https://twitter.com/friendsoftibet/status/1281130372294569984?s=19

..."Seven years in Tibet" by Heinrich Harrer is a must read.

Film (Brad Pitt) too is worth a watch.

https://twitter.com/navalrampandit/status/1281263987578097665?s=19

[Idols of the Mind vs. True Reality: Puri, Bhakti Madhava: 9781734908954 https://t.co/oETyTXhO4H]  https://t.co/bwn7crhjGf

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1282324337010159617?s=19

Monica Gulati #SriAurobindo

https://t.co/DI4LLpSpH8

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1282264703243218944?s=19

The Cordoba Mosque in Spain became a Church.

The Hagia Sophia Church in Turkey became a Mosque.

But both were originally pagan mandirs. 

The Greco-Roman syncretic pantheon was worshipped. Polytheist places of worship were destroyed by proselytizing monotheisms who then fought.

As a Hindu, I see in those temples my story. I refuse to be bound by the territory of India in my spiritualism and that is because the very territory of India is in large parts defined by said spiritualism. Once you understand that, you understand what Aurobindo also understood.

https://twitter.com/harshmadhusudan/status/1282078231449853952?s=19

More importantly, I see in those temples the only way to co-exist. Which is why I believe, you can call it a prophecy or you can call it Dharmic teleology, but those temples will be revived by humanity within this century. The arc of our moral universe shall bend towards justice.

The Mother & Sri Aurobindo are the leaders of Evolution. They are firmly in charge of the welfare of the entire humanity. They don't distinguish between nations or religions. They are working for Supramental manifestation. All must try to understand the significance of this task.

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1265982883295948800?s=19

Despite my shoestring knowledge on international affairs, India, USA, and China going the USSR way is an Evolutionary inevitability. When and how early peple accept this reality depends upon how much Coronavirus can act as a catalyst or thrust its threat to make them fall in line

One is rightsizing for efficiency. Second is Sri Aurobindo foresees a #WorldUnion which can take shape and function efficiently once the hegemony of huge nations are over. So, more democratic and federal sentiments can grow to encompass global proportions. https://t.co/Cx6YQuApn5

I was born and brought up in a traditional agricultural family in an Odisha village with round the year religious festivals. Now, like many others, I worship The Mother & Sri Aurobindo as the Supreme Divine and try to follow their teaching. Castles of old religions will collapse.

https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/1268087329408847872?s=19

No one has taken birth by his choice, yet this overdose of enthusiasm to defend own country, religion, language, or culture is curious. Basically, it's brainwashing in a systematic manner resulting in inertia. Sri Aurobindo, on the other hand, asks for Adventure of Consciousness.

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1282007046775123968?s=19

ARYA appeared every month from August 1914 to January 1921 in which Sri Aurobindo wrote a dozen books chapter by chapter. If one searches for Theory in the Indian context, these are of foundational nature. Thus each PhD scholar should consult them for idea https://t.co/N2vOxDWHZn

A whole century of various reform and reinterpretation movements had created a chaotic situation. Bande Mataram movement too had left its scar. Sri Aurobindo thought of examining issues from the very basics with the aid of Western science and philosophy. It was an epochal moment.

This was a major trigger and puzzle.

[In 1903, three years after Nietzsche’s death, George Bernard Shaw published his play “Man and Superman,” in which he equated the Übermensch with an overflowing “Life Force.”] Nietzsche’s Eternal Return | The New Yorker https://t.co/chJtgXQB3p

[In Process and Evolution and Yoga and Human Evolution (1909) Sri Aurobindo begins to articulate his vision of human evolution... what has been called evolutionary spirituality can be traced back to Sri Aurobindo's work.] - Richard Carlson, Thu 02 Apr 2009 https://t.co/GGFDioT1X7

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1281632534573412352?s=19

There are a few Western handles sympathetic to Sri Aurobindo but they seem to be always in search of some Western thinker for juxtaposition. No one can admit that Sri Aurobindo is the foremost philosopher. Bengalis too suffer from this syndrome and fail to recognise his supremacy

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1280687647929720835?s=19

How knowledge and meaning are facing stiff opposition even in 2020 is really remarkable. Sri Aurobindo wrote new interpretations of the Veda and Upanishads but no one is willing to even acknowledge it. Savitri Era Party will continue to push the right narrative despite resistance.

The Ideal of Human Unity is most pertinent at the moment. #COVID19 is also forcing local autonomy which may lead to Sovereignty to the States of India. #WorldUnion too can take a definite shape. Savitri Era Religion will play an important role in this wide-ranging transformation.

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1280674895869833216?s=19

Conditions Required for the Emergence of the Supermind in Earthly Life https://t.co/lhgN5n7Rf7

https://twitter.com/santoshk1/status/1282698007188840449?s=19

Free speech is the lifeblood of Democracy

The open letter by some prominent intellectuals in @Harpers does make sense.

It is an appeal to all, and not just Trump & his friends, to not stifle free speech under some or the other pretext.

Free speech is the lifeblood of democracy. 

https://t.co/u88KyGmE42

https://twitter.com/CholericCleric/status/1280688188135276544?s=19

"By moving from ‘politically correct’ language to a historically correct account, this book helps us understand why Hindutva ideology has become commonsense and why secularism appears anti-Hindu."

My article: https://t.co/KwFb0Uc4dN

https://twitter.com/_YogendraYadav/status/1280843634380689410?s=19

"Identifying and confronting the weaknesses of secular ideology and practice at this moment of its worst crisis must become a project of our times. This would be painful, but willingness to face it is a sign of confidence, evading a sure sign of death."

 https://t.co/KwFb0Uc4dN

"The only way to respond to this historic setback is to face up to the mistakes of secularism and do a course correction. Abhay Dubey has started this conversation. Let us hope that this early silence would be followed by vigorous debates." https://t.co/KwFb0Uc4dN

LiveLaw Invites You On a Webinar On "Patriarchy, Misogyny & Sexual Assault: Women And The Courts " [Navroz Seervai, Senior Advocate And Gulanr Mistry, Advocate] https://t.co/vjhUgU9MEV

https://twitter.com/LiveLawIndia/status/1280844284577452032?s=19

Does #DomesticViolence account only for married women abused by their in-laws and husbands? Or does it also affect children born in such marriages? #domesticabuse https://t.co/Ubdta2hmRy

https://twitter.com/womensweb/status/1280782262737539072?s=19

#EPWReadingList: The Godhra riots in 2002 represented a fundamental shift in India’s polity and was also a testing ground for political Hindutva. https://t.co/b2aDHQmWjt

https://twitter.com/epw_in/status/1280694367393587200?s=19

#EPWDistilled: How are women’s bodies constructed across castes, classes, regions, religions, and other categories? https://t.co/bqWHPID8Cc

https://twitter.com/epw_in/status/1280754801496731648?s=19

#EPWReadingList: In India, racism, casteism and colourism are not mutually exclusive - they may often overlap. That does not mean however, that racism does not exist. https://t.co/cRO4v1k20v

https://twitter.com/epw_in/status/1280724568106315776?s=19

“What is your vocabulary of resistance? What are the metaphors that help you make sense of the world?” https://t.co/OtWb0KNStQ

https://twitter.com/epw_in/status/1280536864802385920?s=19

What has been the focus of the feminist movement in the last decade? https://t.co/dhgEFDMHsx

Addressing sexual harassment at work requires a reconceptualisation of the concept and an overhauling of the legal structures that aim to mitigate it. https://t.co/VxKWxspjoi

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019 and the Surrogacy Regulation Bill, 2019 reinforce the idea of family as a patriarchal, heterosexual and casteist institution and fail to account for other models of "chosen families'' https://t.co/tEd72OgsOt

#InQuotes: Historians have been guilty of focusing too much on empiricism, rather than seeking to dwell on the nature and philosophy of history. https://t.co/PrYjaHuEyU

"I think it is very natural for everyone to want to see their ancestors and their nation as heroic. And if you can’t do heroic, then the move is to see yourself and your nation as a victim."

Sound familiar? 

https://t.co/AbsKkogwEc

https://twitter.com/peterheehs/status/1280830663201980416?s=19

Don't read lte tetter read this from @OsitaNwanevu  https://t.co/TUJh8jHOXJ

https://twitter.com/TheSamhita/status/1280837214268727297?s=19

The Roman historian Tacitus, on life under the deadening weight of tyranny https://t.co/IDRGH3rHBu

https://twitter.com/WarOnTheRocks/status/1280149549311569921?s=19

Ridiculous & shocking that @INCIndia is forcing its party members to wear RFID tags & tracking their movements. Immoral & unethical surveillance of cadres by leadership of #Congress

https://twitter.com/rvp/status/1280787027869331456?s=19

As poets, academics, journalists, authors, students, and assorted other dissenters are jailed across India, we must at least lend them a ear. Priya Ramani reads letters, poetry, books & notes from prison.

https://t.co/BrDA6dEqwm

https://twitter.com/samar11/status/1280766238201835520?s=19

Unmasking Freedom - Israel Shamir  -https://t.co/owWpQVlS44 via @vijayvaani

https://twitter.com/vijayvaani/status/1280699500491796480?s=19

He has come out as brilliantly as he does in  in his commentary and earlier his bowling . History being written by the conquerors...so true, same sentiments in this sensible piece albeit in a different set up.https://t.co/duXYMR35jG

https://twitter.com/srikanthan09/status/1280848654790615041?s=19

Very sensible article . Very perceptive .https://t.co/duXYMR35jG

YSR was a criminal turned corrupt politician. He and his family promoted Christian conversion in Andhra and today 25% population of Andhra is Christian. Let me now if I left anything @cbkwgl? 

https://t.co/2jQgV1kze6

#YSRForever

https://twitter.com/pawan_aflatoon/status/1280708788790497281?s=19

After all the eulogies that were written recently, here’s a sharp assessment of #PVNarasimhaRao https://t.co/1vPRMbz5HG

https://twitter.com/sugataraju/status/1280539641955770369?s=19

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked a petitioner seeking shutting down of Ashrams run by 'fake babas' to serve the petition upon the Centre in order for them to come up with suggestions regarding the the possible course of action.

Read more:  https://t.co/dqcyigu7NG https://t.co/0Efhp4NVxn

https://twitter.com/LiveLawIndia/status/1280825893733138432?s=19

“Studies show that not all practice is effective, but concentrated practice focused on precise skills can lead to large improvements in performance” https://t.co/5D70n3bWM1

https://twitter.com/five_books/status/1280845368708694018?s=19

People are dropping their guard out of impatience and something called “optimism bias”, which makes one think one is excluded from potential negative effects. It’s a psychological trap, especially for those untouched by any sense of loss or tragedy in life.

https://twitter.com/Krittivasm/status/1280709452883038210?s=19

True.  But,  I was recently reading Brian Weiss,  where he mentioned about divine intervention that changes the course of life, despite destiny.  Do you agree with it?  I remember Shri Aurobindo also having said something similar.

https://twitter.com/PillaiKochu/status/1280745645968461824?s=19

'J'irai au pays de neige' - Film on Alexandra David Neel's life being screened open-air in the Ashram school courtyard tonight.

She met SA in Pondy before Mother came in 1914. French film 'I will go to the Land of Snows' partly shot in Pondy. An Aurovillian plays SA.

Was first foreign woman to enter Tibet, Close friend of The Mother, she heard of Sri Aurobindo from the Richards in Paris after 1910.

https://twitter.com/PondyTweets/status/321275428948041728?s=19

A short and rather interesting introduction to the Integral Yoga, visuals aside. "Evolution Fast-forward": http://t.co/s81YdSi9 via @youtube

The ROSE is my flower-formula of choice this week, month, year, and life. ROSE = Remember, Offer, Surrender, (cultivate) Equanimity!

Brilliant article on Sri Aurobindo and his work: http://t.co/ldH6cD7m

https://twitter.com/PondyTweets/status/236674377507278848?s=19

Gulmohar tree in Pondicherry - the erstwhile French colony and home to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. #GulmoharWSJ http://t.co/O9NkCtOaGD

https://twitter.com/PondyTweets/status/333057479875362816?s=19

Don't miss this talk on Sri Aurobindo and Kashmir Shaivism Speaker Dr @MaheshKaul2 Ji. Lock your day and time- 10/7/2020 at 12.00 PM (Noon). 

For further details click on Pic/ attachment. https://t.co/KaLe6JNFog

https://twitter.com/Team_LalDed/status/1280900451685163008?s=19

It is time we reminded ourselves of the prophetic words of  Sardar Patel and Sri Aurobindo as we face renewed threats across the Himalayas. It is true the situation today is different from the one in the 1950 or 60s. https://t.co/XUtMntOT6N

https://twitter.com/NetTibet/status/1280431386503962624?s=19

Opinion | It is worth noting that unlike many other Indian spiritual thinkers, Sri Aurobindo never lost interest in the nation and the world from the political point of view, writes Prof Sachidananda Mohanty.

https://t.co/KGjmMnIu4O

https://twitter.com/TheQuint/status/1280810707303333889?s=19

Opinion | Sri Aurobindo, in his last testament, said: “The basic significance of Mao’s Tibetan adventure is to advance China’s frontier right down to India, and stand poised there to strike...," writes Prof Sachidananda Mohanty

https://t.co/KGjmMnIu4O

Dear Tathagat ji, namaskar. I am fully ready for the debate. For the sake of historical truth.

Let me first state my basic beliefs.

1: Almost all historical personalities (except evil ones like Hitler) have done something right & something wrong. 

We shd look at both sides. 1/n

5/n We are entitled to admire historical personalities for our own reasons.

But we become Blind Bhakts if we refuse to see mistakes they committed ...esply the same mistakes we see in leaders we decry

Both #Jinnah & #SyamaPrasadMookerjee committed blunders that led to Partition

https://twitter.com/SudheenKulkarni/status/1280380193480171520?s=19

6/n Since 2014 many supporters of Hindutva ideology have, alarmingly, started maligning anyone who disagrees with them (myself incl) as traitors, "anti-national"

They've taken a 'theka' for nationalism

Did you as Governor ever admonish them?

As I said, I'm ready for the debate

https://twitter.com/SudheenKulkarni/status/1280381368912887808?s=19

There is no debate if you decide to deliberately lie through your teeth.

I cannot believe that you did not know that the Syama-Haq cabinet was AGAINST the Muslim League. NOT OF the Muslim League.

Therefore you are lying.

I have taken a 'theka' for exposing liars on this subject.

https://twitter.com/tathagata2/status/1280548130212069376?s=19

Theoretical abstraction and genealogical amnesia gives rise to such convenient reductionist notions.

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1279842304015003648?s=19

[The market is value-neutral. In other words, the dualities of right/wrong, good/bad etc. are not intrinsic to it.]

https://twitter.com/vimuktaatma/status/700158110564876290?s=19

Be it Darwin, Nietzsche, or Freud, Sri Aurobindo finds fault with their ontological frameworks beginning at the middle. Same is the case with Austrian school. The Life Divine and The Human Cycle provide comprehensive answers to human dilemma and perplexity

https://t.co/WCuVIn4Vab

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1279845734842380289?s=19

Assuming a theory vacuum before a particular date is perhaps not accurate. Darwin's theory of Evolution also begins at the middle alerts Sri Aurobindo and goes on to complete the cycle by incorporating Involution. Rothbard's portrayal of man and purpose of action too is inchoate.

https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/1230426596999385096?s=19

A thread from Rosenberg & Birdzell’s “How the West grew rich” (1985):

“..the dominant fact about economic institutions that emerged in Europe after the decline of feudalism is their wholly pragmatic character & their lack of ideological commitment to any economic principle..” 1/n

https://twitter.com/acorn/status/1230338907578875904?s=19

Practice precedes theory. That’s the insight in this.

First codification; then implementation. First laying down the tenets and then following them. Thus be it Quality or Dharma, the blueprint is essential for building. Domain knowledge, therefore, is crucial; respecting it essential. This is the lesson number One of Dharma practice https://t.co/XAXTE5irXJ

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1272786045797494785?s=19

https://sepact.blogspot.com/2020/07/savitri-era-party-pursues-human-unity.html?m=1

We're Hindu, but we're not like them

Why blame Google? They have incentive to focus on languages with widespread use.  Several others very well-intentioned like Aurobindo Ashram have tried building Unicode. What prevents the @MinOfCultureGoI from putting their muscle behind this?

https://twitter.com/SeshShankar/status/1260384191541198848?s=19

In these diff times, our religious, spiritual organisations r doing yeomen servic.Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry has silently done grt service. They hv dntd 1 crore to PM Cares fund, 50 lacs to CM Fund, and distr 25 lacs worth of masks, PPEs etc thru  associates and devotees.

https://twitter.com/cavsrfca/status/1260388311132078081?s=19

My article on 'Niṇyāvacāṁsi: Essence of the Vedas', looking beyond Sri Aurobindo's psychological model of conceiving the Vedas to incorporate its spiritual dimensions, to highlight how the Vedas embody the transcendent Satya. 

https://t.co/drYBUiagDL

Mahabharata was more than a quadraple of millenia ago yet I felt so sorrowful today lamenting how one civil war eliminated all the royal/divine genealogies and wiped out the vaidika civilisation at its epoch in one blow. We started from scratch never to recover, reclaim it back.

https://twitter.com/Shakra_Kulish/status/1259872256198676480?s=19

My daughter tells me- Realise who matter to the world now- Not lawyers, not bankers. It is the food producer, the medical profession, the public transport, the domestic help who comes to the house...

https://twitter.com/BalakrishnanR/status/1241585100103409665?s=19

Believe me, the world will be a far more peaceful place. Dishonesty in the world will come down by close to a hundred percent

I repeat it’s not abt Muslim invasions of past but the ongoing genocide & ethnic cleansing of Hindus since last 100 years or so which is causing anti-Muslim backlash. Add to it the religious aggression & social violence by Ashraf supremacists against weaker caste Hindus in India.

https://twitter.com/Abhina_Prakash/status/1260873164013395969?s=19

'I understand Hindus are upset over the Muslim invasions of the past, but they must move on & not oppress Muslims today,' Emirati royal Sheikha Hend Al Qassimi @LadyVelvet_HFQ tells ThePrint's National Affairs Editor @jomalhotra in #ThePrintUninterrupted.

https://t.co/7SWmS2N3kx

https://twitter.com/ThePrintIndia/status/1260186713470705666?s=19

It is precisely by trying to prevent the descent into the old rancorous and atavistic form of Hinduism that today goes by the name of Hindutva, Bengal became an intellectual powerhouse. Succumbing to that very thing it was designed to prevent now would be a beyrayal to that cause

You want to claim this guy for Hindutva? Aurobindo more than anyone else embodied the spirit of Bengal renaissance. True, he wasn't part of the Gandhi-Nehru secular camp. None of Bengal renaissance intellectuals were. But that doesn't mean they belong to the Nagpur camp either. https://t.co/ZQFmjSddOc

The movement in Bengal was overwhelmingly a Bengali movement. They also called themselves Hindu primarily because they were completely unaware of what "Hindu" means in rest of India. If "Hindu" is what the cow belt calls "Hindu", Bengal renaissance is totally incompatible with it

Why them, without twitter and facebook even our generation of Bengalis would not have known what exactly is "Hindu" in North India. We used to call ourselves Hindu unequivocally. Now we have to add "We're Hindu, but we're not like them". Aurobindo wd be forced to do that as well.

https://twitter.com/m_for_moriarty/status/1260638670333317120?s=19

To the Bengali audience, who instead of Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha, Ritwik Ghatak, Rituparno Ghosh, Aparna Sen grew up or chose to remain "exposed primarily to commercial Hindi cinema", now feeling Ray spat on their face...maybe it is not Ray, it is the face. @GargaC

https://twitter.com/m_for_moriarty/status/1259549157368397826?s=19

4. And as for your Dravida nationalism, who do you think started this project of making Hindi the lingua franca of Indian Hindus? The language itself was born under British patronage at Fort William in Calcutta with that express purpose.

https://twitter.com/m_for_moriarty/status/1249170970402852864?s=19

I am also yet to meet a person in Bihar who does not understand what is spoken on Pakistani television. In fact they understand it much better than the official Hindi created and used by Babus in Delhi. So, how do you know what are they speaking and understanding: Hindi or Urdu?

https://twitter.com/m_for_moriarty/status/1226573349507170304?s=19

Our friends at @CEGA_UC pulled together research insights from development economics for the #COVID-19 crisis: https://t.co/49SP20uKun

Elizabeth Anderson's Epistomology of Justice is available to read FREE now in the Southern Journal of Philosophy: https://t.co/3adcUUvWmt https://t.co/6YyBKrM9M8

Miguel Centeno unpacks the impact of systemic crises on democracy in light of the ongoing #Covid19 pandemic by examining how civil, political, and social rights fare under societal pressures 

https://t.co/XZ4HEvUsxT

Odias are one of the most tolerant, peaceful & inclusive lot in this country. The last folks to agitate, create inconvenience or cause trouble. The guys who get up to vacate a seat for an old lady in the bus. The world perceives us as simple, unadulterated & perpetually weird.

https://twitter.com/discoverbbsr/status/1258626393962938369?s=19

As regards the local part, Sovereignty to the States is the only solution. Otherwise, it remains a slogan. PM's speech is a text book example of how Central authority is woefully unaware of local problems and necessities. It's an impediment in a country with such huge population.

Asiatic Society founded by Sir William Jones in 1784 was responsible for large-scale transformations in the Indian society in the subsequent years the reverberations of which are being felt even today. Sri Aurobindo too has made crucial interventions which need to be internalised

There must be a reason why Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo were born in opposite sides of India and never met during three decades. Present generation must probe into this whole scenario for a wealth of information and insights is waiting to be discovered. This is an Evolutionary task.

Savitri Era Learning Forum (SELF): Curzon was merely a puppet https://t.co/osETnZ4ZfV Posted by Tusar Nath Mohapatra @NathTusar at March 14, 2019 Location: #ShipraRiviera, #Indirapuram, #Ghaziabad, #UttarPradesh 201014, India #SriAurobindo #WorldUnion #FiveDreams #SavitriEraParty

Chandannagar to Puducherry

Plasim Radar

Sri Aurobindo Studies

Knowledge of God Is the Essential Requirement for Liberation of All Beings from Suffering - Sri Aurobindo translates Shwetashwatara Upanishad, Chapter Six, Verse 20: “When the sons of men shall fold up ether like a skin and wrap the heavens round...

An und für sich

Help me plan a module on angels and demons in medieval theology - I’m due to teach a new course in September, which sets out to use angelology and demonology as a way into medieval theology and philosophy. We don’t curren...

AuroMaa

Candle Lighting at the Lotus Feet of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo - The Divine is the sure friend who never fails, the Power, the Support, the Guide. The Divine is the Light which scatters darkness, the conqueror who assu...

Poetry as Socio-proctology

Grief is a gust of breeze - Of Storied Trees, so Stonily Erect the Fallen Leaves In Summer Stillness- Cemeteries Say no Loss is save of some lofty Family's Your Grief is just a gust o...

enowning

- Matthew J Dowd lectures on Heidegger: #1 Existentialism and Phenomenology

The Indian Philosophy Blog

My Introduction to and Journeys in Indian Philosophy - Dear Indian Philosophy Blog readers, The board of the Indian Philosophy Blog has asked me to contribute three or four posts within the span of a month here...

Savitri Era Devotees

“Today 110 Years Ago Sri Aurobindo Arrives in Pondicherry - a Detailed Report!” - by Aryadeep - The Detailed Report of Sri Aurobindo’s Stay in Chandernagore and Arrival in Pondicherry I suppose the coronavirus topic is on the top of the minds of Auro...

Larval Subjects .

A World is Ending - My article on the pandemic in the journal Identities can be found here.

Overman Foundation

An Unpublished Letter of Nirodbaran to The Illustrated Weekly of India - Dear Friends, 4 April 2020 marks the 110th anniversary of Sri Aurobindo’s arrival in Pondicherry which went on to become the ‘cave’ of His ‘tapasya’. On th...

Beauty Interprets, Expresses, Manifests the Eternal

From Politics to Yoga - One hundred and ten years ago, on April 4, 1910, Sri Aurobindo arrived at the old port of Pondicherry. And this little town by the bay and rest of India an...

The Pinocchio Theory

Music video commentaries (5) – Kanye West - Kanye West, Runaway (Kanye West, 2010) Runaway pushes the boundaries of the music video, turning it into a 34-minute (including credits) short film. West c...

The Immanent Frame

Practices of relation: Gorski and Perry - Sociologists Philip Gorski and Samuel Perry engage one another in critical dialogue around White Christian Nationalism in the United States.

matriwords

Hampi Continues to Live – Part 8 - Continued from Part 7 Hazara Rama temple (Photos by Suhas Mehra, text and quotes selection by Beloo Mehra) यावत्स्थास्यन्ति गिरयः सरितश्च महीतले | तावद्र...

The Chrysalis

Pathocracy and the Chrysalis - I thought I was being clever in coining the term “Pathocracy” for what we otherwise call “the New Normal”, but I see some have beat me to it. It is this, i...

Footnotes2Plato

Ecological Civilization, or Anarcho-Primitivism? - Here’s my original blog post: Imagining a Gaian Reality After the Virus

Love of All Wisdom

Why is Evan Thompson not a Buddhist? (1) - Recently Evan Thompson released a book with the provocative title Why I Am Not A Buddhist. The book is an … Continue reading →

Auro e-Books

Шри Ауробиндо или Судьба Тела - Шри Ауробиндо или судьба тела С чувством искреннего смирения мы предлагаем читателю эту книгу с необычным названием. У автора нет претензии ни играть рол...

Savitri Era Learning Forum

Stimulating creativity as a personality asset - *A momentous event shouldn't go unnoticed. *The Mother arrived in Puducherry on March 29, 1914. It's not a Darshan Day but holds the greatest significanc...

content write ups

Education and Learning - *Education is not confined to classrooms* With schools and colleges closed many are talking of missing learning and education!!! We tend to not only vi...

Savitri Era

Depth is only so much as you can measure; Je pakshi ude jete dura - Majority is not synonymous with Democracy. Authorisation is by majority vote but thereafter an elite minority rules. Top Party committee, therefore, is of ...

AurovilleRadioTV

Sooner or Later – Jazz concert - A beautiful jazz concert was held in Bharat Nivas Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th March. In this recording you can listen to original songs composed by Rolf,...

Integral Musings | Towards a Holistic Vision

Violence against Women: Problem and the Remedy – M.S.Srinivasan - One of the most distressing condition at present in India is the violence against woman in various forms, from sexual … Violence against Women: Problem and...

Sunayana Panda

Film review: ‘Thappad’ - I assume that by now everyone who wanted to see this film has already seen it and that those who haven’t seen the film are not going to see it. So I am not...

Stimulating creativity as a personality asset

A momentous event shouldn't go unnoticed. The Mother arrived in Puducherry on March 29, 1914. It's not a Darshan Day but holds the greatest significance for Indians. All followers are requested to rise to the occasion so that the present crisis is averted. https://t.co/KSnsA1qpUW

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1243703402158116866?s=19

Two thousand years of political theory has been on society and collective life whereas the current crisis has reversed the gaze towards home and family. It has been a neglected area and many loopholes as regards loneliness and neglect need to be addressed. https://t.co/ZXkUpWxvS1

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1243798299968040961?s=19

The Pandemic

The Coronavirus pandemic, raging throughout the world seems to be a dance of Mahakali for reasons best known to Her. While the middle class and the elite have been mainly affected, South Asia holds its breath for if it strikes at the proletariat, the teeming millions staying in shanties and slums, there would be no end to suffering for a long time to come. The government of India has enforced lock-downs, insisted on hand washing, social distancing and early detection of symptoms. That works with the middle class up to a certain level but would have difficulties in overcrowded slums, marginalized people suffering in hordes already from tuberculosis and Adivasis prone to malaria and malnutrition. A many pronged approach working at multiple layers instead of a blanket moratorium is needed. Political Will is needed but can be unproductive if inputs are not considered from diverse strata of a heterogeneous and multicultural society.

Date of Update: 25-Mar-20

http://motsac.org/journals.php

INSTITUTE FOR INTEGRAL YOGA PSYCHOLOGY

The Institute for Integral Yoga Psychology is a project of MIRRAVISION TRUST, financed by Auroshakti Foundation, a non-profit, public ...

Action-based Activities:

1. The institute will provide counseling and help to public in the light of Sri Aurobindo's and Mother's psychological system both individually and through internet. 

2. The institute will be associated with Mirravision Trust's direct therapeutic activities viz. Healing spaces, Hospitals, Rehabilitation Programs, Specialized clinics.

3. The Institute will also link up with different therapeutic centers throughout the world who are working with Integral, Holistic, Global, Spiritual perspectives of health.

4. The Institute will promote play and games therapy, art therapy, music therapy, psychodrama and other such pursuits aimed at stimulating creativity as a personality asset; to promote positive recreational and entertainment programs that aim at an elevation of consciousness.

5. The Institute will conduct stress management , organizational development and creativity programs for executives, professionals and students with a spiritual and consciousness approach

Our predecessors are stalwart-scholars and yogis who had the vision and foresight of acknowledging the inherent psychological insights in Sri Aurobindo’s thought. This illustrious list begins with the late Prof. Indra Sen, who published as early as 1944 an article entitled “A psychological Appreciation of Sri Aurobindo’s System of Integral Yoga” and culminates in Dr. A. S. Dalal’s landmark publication of “A Greater Psychology” in 2001. Dr. Indra Sen used the term “Integral Psychology” in 1960 to denote Sri Aurobindo’s Psychological system but as Robert Gerard (in 1982) and Ken Wilber (in 2000) have been using the term for other things, the nomenclature “Integral Yoga Psychology” has evolved. Other predecessors include the late Kishore Gandhi who had been using class notes on this theme since 1966 at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, the late Madhusudan Reddy whose book on Integral Yoga Psychology was published in 1988, Jobst Muhling who differentiated conventional Western Psychology from Sri Aurobindo’s psychology in 1960, the late Haridas Chowdhury who with F. Spiegelberg in 1960 published a Commemorative Symposium proceedings where the term “Integral Psychology” was first used, C. R. Goswami who used this term in 1989 and Lloyd Fellows who established an Institute for Integral Psychology in USA during 1970s under the inspiration of Late M. P. Pandit. http://www.iiyp.net/Predecessors.php

The body beautiful - NAMAH - NAMAH Journal

Sri Aurobindo has warned that if mankind did not evolve further in consciousness, a resurgence of a primitive barbarism would be  ...

BETWEEN THE NATURAL AND THE NORMATIVE

Z Stein - … of Integrative Developmental Science: Essays in …, 2020 - books.google.com

The study of human development has long hinged around a discourse about the concept of development. It has been a discourse full of dualities and tensions. What does it mean to say a person develops, as opposed to merely changes? What does it mean to say some skill or …

...

"There are only two possible explanations as to how life arose: Spontaneous generation arising to evolution or a supernatural creative act of God.... There is no other possibility. Spontaneous generation was scientifically disproved 120 years ago by Louis Pasteur and others, but that just leaves us with only one other possibility... that life came as a supernatural act of creation by God, but I can't accept that philosophy because I do not want to believe in God. Therefore I choose to believe in that which I know is scientifically impossible, spontaneous generation leading to evolution."

:: George Wald, "Origin, Life and Evolution," Scientific American (1978)

Sincere and humble regards,

Krishna Keshava Das

Serving Assistant

Princeton Bhakti Vedanta Institute

of Spiritual Culture and Science

www.bviscs.org

A.S. Dalal's invaluable contribution to Integral Psychology.

The ‘Auro Ratna Award’ for the year 2019 was presented to Dr. A.S. Dalal for his invaluable contribution in the field of Integral Psychology.

To read the report of the award ceremony and see some of the photographs of the event, kindly click on the following link:

http://overmanfoundation.org/dr-a-s-dalal-awarded-the-auro-ratna-award-for-the-year-2019/

With warm regards,

Anurag Banerjee

Founder,

Overman Foundation.

https://t.co/MAWijhE0Vq  Every issue India is struggling with today was mentioned by Sri Aurobindo 100 yrs ago in his magazine 'Vande Matram ' --Shraddhalu ji from Ashram

https://twitter.com/uttrashada/status/1240946887579947009?s=19

Team led by Chairperson Tara Jauhar of Sri Aurobindo Ashram - Delhi Branch , visited The Honorable Prime Minister on 17.3.2020 to present the proposal for 150th Birth Anniversary of Sri Aurobindo in the year 2022. https://t.co/ghRVg6SnYv

https://twitter.com/SAADelhiBranch/status/1241676823374606336?s=19

@JPNadda 

The Coronavirus in Sri Aurobindo’s Light By François Gautier

https://t.co/6Yayod2N9p

https://twitter.com/fgautier26/status/1241640681505869824?s=19

.@gchikermane offers unusual take on "powering the fight" against  Coronavirus w teachings of Shri Aurobindo & Swami Vivekananda. Relevant read everywhere, esp as India seeks "quietude", "silence", & "stillness" today. #JantaCurfewMarch22 

https://t.co/on5bYC4Zgn via @swarajyamag

https://twitter.com/AmritaNarlikar/status/1241614498055716870?s=19

This handy compilation is three to four decades old but remains neglected. Let's hope both the scientific community and those dealing with Humanities look at it for some bold pointers at this time of crisis. @NathTusar

#SriAurobindo #WorldUnion #FiveDreams

https://t.co/qteHCTeMGk

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1239949601836158977?s=19

Fighting Communism or Hindutva is not the real challenge as the present crisis underscores. Larger Ontological picture is more relevant for which the Yogic insights of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo are immensely instructive. Modernity is key but Supraphysical realm matters much more

While it's natural to examine alternative scenarios to understand this viral crisis, it's profitable to study a living experience like Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Besides, Satprem's futuristic books like The Mind of the Cells or Evolution II are highly relevant. https://t.co/VES2fORLAL

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1240575921624498177?s=19

I have been active on the web under the banner of Savitri Era since 2005 but couldn't secure the support of anyone. Those who read Sri Aurobindo feel so knowledgeable that any collective endeavour becomes difficult. Yet, there's scope for unanimity like on forming smaller nations.

Though it's an extraordinary crisis situation, each State declaring a lockdown can be seen as a baby step towards Sovereignty and the Evolutionary intention behind it is unmistakable. Politics and economy undergoing paradigm shift is also inevitable. Sri Aurobindo is at the helm.

https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/1241516148174225415?s=19

While your assessment is not unfounded, philosophical observations tend to be difficult because of their abstract nature. Idea, when germinates, has its own validity and force irrespective of gestation of reaching common folk. That's the general assumption https://t.co/JHSjh01rRR

Mantra from Savitri 

by Sri Aurobindo:

Hers is the mystery the Night conceals;

The spirit’s alchemist energy is hers;

She is the golden bridge, the wonderful fire. ||81.22||

https://t.co/PZna3jkfdj

Let the whole world submit to its power and light to face this worldwide crisis.

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1241156299653435393?s=19

Was reminded of the poem Thought the Paraclete by Sri Aurobindo https://t.co/sDyHZclVsy

https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/1241323418726752256?s=19

[A Critical Inference of Sri Aurobindo’s The Blue Bird

1. Parkavi, II M.A English Literature, MSUC College, Nagalapuram, Tamil Nadu

2. S. Loganayagi, II M.A English Literature, MSUC College, Nagalapuram, Tamil Nadu] Jan 2020–Vol 2, Issue I - LITERARY DRUID https://t.co/3si2C9WQx6

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1240737638761422848?s=19

[Value of Humanities: The Statesman

Fundamental questions of who we are and how we ought to live still remain rather puzzling. Humanities can alone furnish the answers and solutions. (The writer is Assistant Professor in English, PW Mahavidyalaya, Nadia).] https://t.co/lQkaohdyQq

439. As Sri Aurobindo would remind us, ‘We can no longer enshrine the Veda in the folds of an ignorant reverence or guard it by a pious self-deceit.  The keynote of philosophy is the quest for truth, although the same truth may be articulated in a variety of ways.

https://twitter.com/Janamejayan/status/1241020887584903172?s=19

459. In conclusion, let us listen to Gustave Flaubert here.  He expresses with rare power the sense of infinite vistas and receding horizons in the following beautiful passage:-

460. “Superficial, limited creatures, rash, featherbrained souls demand a conclusion from everything; they want to know the purpose of life and the dimensions of the infinite.

461. Picking up a handful of sand in their poor, puny grasp, they say to the ocean, ‘I shall now count the grains on your shores.’  But, when the sand slips through their fingers and the sum proves long, they stamp and burst into tears.

462.  Do you know what we should do on that shore? Either kneel down or walk.”

463. No great genius has ever come to final conclusion, no, not ever the Holy Scriptures.  The final conclusion is that there can be no final conclusion.

464. The golden rule is that there is no golden rule.  That is why we value vinaya, and vidyaa.  Sankara and those like him teach us both to kneel and walk – to kneel with vinaya, humility  and walk with Vidyaa. Knowledge.

Radical Democratic Party.

M N Roy hailed from the family of Brahmins who were priests, large family made his father to look into another avenues.

MN Roy had his schooling at Arbelia, Kodalia & College at National College of Shri Aurobindo & later finished his Engineering at

https://twitter.com/Sheshapatangi/status/1241246563671756801?s=19

Social distancing can be disorienting. Isolation is one of the worst penal punishments. U can help urself in these times by fostering a dog or cat from a shelter. Fostering is a temporary commitment-giving him home while the shelter tries 2 locate a permanent home 4 him.

https://twitter.com/sarkar_swati/status/1241700426287808512?s=19

Finished the eighth chapter of Shreekanthacharitam.  This is a description of the various flowering plants in Kashmir, especially those that blossom in spring. I suspect these flowers were all utilised in pooja of Shiva and/or Parvati.

https://twitter.com/maidros78/status/1241709849026514944?s=19

Half-revealed stuff of the old days

Kovind, not Covid, did it

Telegraph India-21 hours ago

President Ram Nath Kovind handed a Rajya Sabha nomination to Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Monday evening, four months after he retired as ...

Bengal based Telegraph displays hate for Dalits, equates ...

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Misc. References:

A Turn to Matter: The Thought of Sri Aurobindo, Contemporary Art and Religion

[PDF] INDIA'S DAUGHTERS: SOME INSIGHTS FROM THE PAST

B MEHRA - 2020 … “The greatness of the ideals of the past is a promise of greater ideals for the future.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Vol … accomplishment and, lastly, by its power of survival, renovation and adaptation to new phases of the …

11 Prolegomenon to the study of science and religion

D Raina - Science and Scientification in South Asia and Europe, 2020

11 Prolegomenon to the study of science and religion

D Raina - Science and Scientification in South Asia and Europe, 2020 - books.google.com

For some time now a group of Jesuit seminarians and scientists in India have been running a quasi-academy or forum to debate the developments in the sciences and their impact on the religious life. As happens with academies and fora for such discussion and debates, the … 

New Horizons in Transformational Leadership: A Vedāntic Perspective on Values-Based Leadership

S Dhiman, V Kumar - New Horizons in Positive Leadership and Change, 2020 … Law of Sacrifice. The law of sacrifice is the eternal law. Sufi mystic Gurdjieff states that “nature is full of mysteries and we have to pay price for its revealing.” “Where sacrifice is not willingly given, Nature exacts it by force, she satisfies …

The Challenge of the Oceanic Feeling: Romain Rolland's Mystical Critique of Psychoanalysis and His Call for...

Swami Medhananda (Ayon Maharaj) 2017, History of European Ideas 43.5 (2017), pp. 474-493

[PDF] Decolonizing Pedagogy by Appropriating Yoga. The Role of White Women in the Search for Social Justice within Higher Education

LL Douglass - Dialogues in Social Justice: An Adult Education …, 2020 … Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publishers, Inc. Dalal, AS (2001). Psychology, Mental Health and Yoga (2nd edition ed.). Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ahram Press Dewey, J. (1944). Democracy and Education: An introduction to the Philosophy of Education …

The Essays of Chitta Ranjan Das on Literature, Culture, and Society: On the Side of Life in Spite of

AK Giri, I Marquez - 2020 … 56 6. A Preface to Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali in the Ukrainian Translation..... 66 7. Sri Aurobindo and Indian Nationalism..... 69 8. Sri Aurobindo's Works: An Acquaintance in Dimension …

[PDF] Gyanodaya

A FERRER, S KATHURIA, S DALAL, S SHUKLA… … Page 5. 4 Albert Ferrer Maharshi, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Swami Yogananda, until the contemporary teachings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. We should also mention the great spiritual poet from Bengal, R. Tagore, and the eminent philosopher, S. Radhakrishnan …

[PDF] Lala Laljpat Rai and Simon Commission

SS Hundal - Studies in Indian Place Names, 2020

… contributed to a self-less service to the nation. Lajpat Rai belonged to that period of our history, when people like Aurobindo, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal had come to see the basic faults in the “Moderate” …

… in sacred texts of both religions, and medieval links are often tantalizingly disguised. It has been only since the middle of the twentieth century–the era of the Holocaust …

N Katz - The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Inter-Religious …, 2020 … The first important figure of the era was Sigmund Feninger (1901–1994), a secular Jew from Hanau, Germany, who converted to Buddhism, took the dharma-name Nyan- aponika, and joined a monastery in … Hitler's Priestess …

SPIRITUALITY AS A POTENTIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL (PSYCAP) TOOL FOR FACING ACADEMIC STUDENTS IN ACCOUNTING STUDENTS

W Komalasari, A Kurniawan - TSARWATICA (Islamic Economic, Accounting, and …, 2020 … Bruce WM (2000), “Public Administrator Attitudes About Spirituality: An Exploratory Study”,

American Review of Public Administration, Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 460-472. Sri Aurobindo (1997), An Introduction to True Spirituality, p. 13, Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry …

[PDF] Forms and Techniques employed by Indian Writers in their spiritual literary works: A Piece of Research work.

G Imayavaramban … Most of them sprang from Bengal. Among those writers Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, J. Krishnamurti stand out … In their literary output long song sequences and lengthy poems are not infrequent, like Tagore's Gitanjali …

[PDF] Moral, Art and Aesthetic Education

A SEN … Some of them are the experiments in: Tagore's Santiniketan; the Ramkrishna Mission residential schools; the Pondicherry ashram' of Sri Aurobindo; the Gandhian schools and the Krishnamurty foundation schools; the Satya Sai Institution: and so on …

[PDF] HERITAGE OF ENGLISH POETRY WRITTEN BY WOMEN POETS OF THE POST-INDEPENDENCE PERIOD

MN Rana - Studies in Indian Place Names, 2020 … This becomes the trend for the poetry. On observing at pre independence poetry, we meet the stalwart figures of Sri Aurobindo, Tagore, and the like who despite their deep patriotic concerns wrote poems evincing their focus on the matters of soul, God or ultimate truth …

Chinese Renaissance, Other Renaissances

G Zhou - Remembering May Fourth, 2020

PROBLEM OF GENDER IN THE PHILOSOPHY.

A Xakimov - Theoretical & Applied Science, 2019 … Social and interpersonal relationships need to be built on a new set of priorities, ideals. They were called Sri Aurobindo "mental relations". Perhaps it is difficult to eliminate discrimination without forming a common spiritual intimacy …

[PDF] Use of Yoga in Theatre Artist's Training: A Study

CB Kanase - Studies in Indian Place Names, 2020 … Yoga has spread all over the world by the teachings of great personalities like Swami Shivananda, Shri T.Krishnamacharya, Swami Kuvalayananda, Shri Yogendara, Swami Rama, Sri Aurobindo, Maharshi Mahesh Yogi, Acharya Rajanish, Pattabhijois, BKS …

Queer Diasporic Practice of a Muslim Traveler: Syed Mujtaba Ali's Chacha Kahini

K Manjapra - How to Write the Global History of Knowledge-Making, 2020 … 1972. New lamps for old [1893]. In Complete works, vol. 1, 5–56. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library.Google Scholar. Gopinath, Gayatri. 2005. Impossible desires: Queer diasporas and South Asian public cultures …

[DOC] Guidance and Counselling in Teacher Education

PK Dhal … This is a valuable quotation for teachers in the World. We have had inspiration from the great 'Rishis' like Valmiki, Vasistha, Viswamitra, Vyasa, Buddha, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo and from the great teachers as Socrates …

15. Religion as Conceptual Scaffolding for Architecture

P Scriver, J Nash - Religion Matters: The Contemporary Relevance of … … At the time of India's Independence, the former freedom fighter-turned-mystic, Sri Aurobindo, had proposed that Pondicherry be declared an 'international city' in which Indian spiritual philosophy could nurture a new post-national form of global community …

Assorted tweets:

Jit Mukherjee @iridines

Dr faustus European mind is far more yogic than her Indian counterpart, society & religion do not represent yoga, individualism or inversion towards own self is the very first step, that Europe has taken & nurtured through last few centuries. India remains lost in very first stair.

twitter.com/nilanjanmaitra…

Goutam Ghosal @GoutamGhosal3

One can't be a follower of d new yoga n at the same time constantly go back to the past, to half-revealed stuff of d old days. That which is eternal is only to be taken from the past-- the other temporal stuff fall away by an evolutionary push towards the future.

This handy compilation is three to four decades old but remains neglected. Let's hope both the scientific community and those dealing with Humanities look at it for some bold pointers at this time of crisis. @NathTusar
#SriAurobindo #WorldUnion #FiveDreams
https://t.co/qteHCTeMGk
https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1239949601836158977?s=19
Praying is the most contentious aspect since different gods and goddesses look absurd against the backdrop of a monistic virus. The Mother & Sri Aurobindo thought about all these aspects more than a century ago but educated Indians don't bother to listen to them. That's alarming!
Ultimately, it's about understanding oneself; one has to start somewhere. Sri Aurobindo enacted a Gita like situation in Kolkata but the real war he fought was against Hitler in Puducherry. Thus nationalism is not his final motive; its Evolution, and how it can tackle even virus.
Put well but your focus seems to be on the performer whereas my emphasis was on the sensibilities expected of the audience, i.e., each one of us. It's incumbent upon us to judge critically and impartially. Even a simple mention may amount to injustice to another. So no mean task.
Scores of metaphysical frameworks, theological formulations, or contesting ontologies. Myopic worldviews of science add to the woe of which people are helpless prisoners. Thankfully Sri Aurobindo provides the most stable picture of the world and a secure Evolutionary future of it.
Events unfolding and the story unrolling while watching a film feels normal but the truth is that every bit of it has been executed in advance. Life similarly is not a spontaneous or random movement as it appears superficially, writes Tusar Nath Mohapatra. https://t.co/AIw0G5KrMD
Integral yoga is about Evolution and not merely personal experience or salvation. Social dimensions of Integral yoga derive from the Vedic focus on Sangha, Samhita being a derivative. Sri Aurobindo (Bhawani Mandir) taking cue from Bhabani Pathak (Devi Chaudhurani) not improbable.
[Unlike Anandamath, he put together an alternate government in place, led by an ideal leader, steeped in Indian values, directly supported by the people.] -Wikipedia https://t.co/u89vjqsqhh

Absurd trolleys

by Amod Lele

It appears that the trolley problem is, as they say, having a moment. Possibly due to its newfound relevance to autonomous cars and other robots – a relevance that would have been entirely science-fictional when Philippa Foot formulated the modern version of the problem in 1967 – it is now making multiple appearances in popular culture. In that respect it is a notable counterpoint to the claim I made years ago that analytic philosophy doesn't make for good visual media.

Plasim Radar

Sri Aurobindo Studies

The Birth of All Forms and Creatures - Sri Aurobindo translates Shwetashwatara Upanishad, Chapter Five, Verse 2: “He being One entereth upon womb and womb, yea, upon all forms of being and upon...

An und für sich

Giorgio Agamben: “Clarifications” - Translator’s Note: Giorgio Agamben asked me to translate this brief essay, which serves as an indirect response to the controversy surrounding his article ...

Poetry as Socio-proctology

Satyanarayana Hedge on Ghalib 39.1 - *Veritas est Adaequatio intellectus et rei, *is a grievous but gravid truth- it imposes a heavy labor but it produces something novel and uniquely invaluab...

The Indian Philosophy Blog

Fixed duties require less care in their performance than optional ones (Maṇḍana’s view) - Maṇḍana reforms Mīmāṃsā philosophy of action and deontic by saying that one undertakes actions only because one believes them to be the means to a desired ...

AuroMaa

An Interview by Maggi Lidchi - Q: What was Mother’s room like? A: It was like walking into a different world; it was like being suspended half way between heaven and earth because of h...

Savitri Era Devotees

Mirra Alfassa of Aurobindo Ashram had terrible Flu (like Coronavirus) in Japan in 1919 - I will tell you a story. I do not know whether I have already told it to you, but I am going to tell you now for it will give you an illustration. I was in...

Love of All Wisdom

Absurd trolleys - It appears that the trolley problem is, as they say, having a moment. Possibly due to its newfound relevance to … Continue reading →

The Chrysalis

Coming to Terms with Enantiodromia - Excess of sorrow laughs, excess of joy weeps. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell Enantiodromia is a term coined by Carl Jung in homage to the Greek philos...

content write ups

Grammar must not be stumbling block - However, such nuanced grammar rules are neither taught nor insisted upon nowadays in the wordless age of icons. Besides, these...

The Immanent Frame

human - It is the dream of modern secular law to occupy all of the space of law—as a universal language—that is, to thoroughly comprehend, to transparently express...

AurovilleRadioTV

Rosso Agenda – La nave sopramentale (in italiano) 12 - ROSSO AGENDA PASSI SCELTI DALL’ AGENDA DI MERE La nave sopramentale Vol. I Pag. 156-162 “Mi trovavo su un’immensa nave….grande come una città. E’ il luogo ...

matriwords

A Series Inspired by India’s Rebirth – 6 - Author: Beloo Mehra (2019). Published under the title ‘When Young India Awakes’ in Sri Aurobindo’s Action, Vol. 50 (6), pp. 8-11 CONTINUED FROM Part 5 When...

enowning

- "God After Metaphysics: Heidegger, Aquinas, and the Future of Natural Theology" by Justin Gable.

Integral Musings | Towards a Holistic Vision

Violence against Women: Problem and the Remedy – M.S.Srinivasan - One of the most distressing condition at present in India is the violence against woman in various forms, from sexual … Violence against Women: Problem and...

Sunayana Panda

Film review: ‘Thappad’ - I assume that by now everyone who wanted to see this film has already seen it and that those who haven’t seen the film are not going to see it. So I am not...

Savitri Era

Sanskrit texts don't contain self-evident truth - We have seen three phases in the course of the last sixty years. 1. Socialism will bring equality and freedom from exploitation 2. Market will force freedom ...

Beauty Interprets, Expresses, Manifests the Eternal

The Great World-Mother - Once during his Baroda years, Sri Aurobindo visited a Kali temple on the bank of the Narmada river. Recounting that visit, he later said: “With my European...

Savitri Era Learning Forum

Idealism and panpsychism make easy friends - Plasim Radar Poetry as Socio-proctology Jason Stanley on Trump's India visit - Jason Stanley writes in the Guardian- In the early 20th century, the US depl...

Auro e-Books

Companion to “Hymns to the Mystic Fire” (Vol.2) by Mukund Ainapure - Companion to 'Hymns to the Mystic Fire' is meant as an aid to the systematic study of Hymns to the Mystic Fire (Volume 16 – The Complete Works of Sri Aur...

Nothing to Declare

The Speech of Sir Samuel Hoare after declaration of the decision of creating a separate Orissa Province - The date, 24th December 1932, is a golden letter day in the history of modern Odisha. As part of the Third Round Table Conference in Britain, as part of th...

Prateek Pattanaik

Seven makers of the Ratha - Published on 2 Jul 2019 in OrissaPOST Every year for the Ratha Jatra, three huge rathas or chariots are made by artisans in Puri. While being huge structur...