Need for growth of International spirit and outlook

1947: In two distant lands Indian Weekender - Primla Khar 

It was perhaps apt that India should have attained Independence on the birthday of a luminary like Sri Aurobindo. He delivered a message on the eve of independence from All India Radio Thiruchirappali, touching various facets of revolution, liberation, spirituality and evolution. One of his perceptions relevant to present day times is about “world union forming the outer basics of a fairer, brighter and nobler life for all mankind”. He mentioned (very relevant to us Kiwi Indians) the need for growth of International spirit and outlook, forums and development of “dual or multilateral citizenship”. How foresighted indeed!

The Pioneer: Swadeshi's intellectual ground Priyadarsi Dutta  Thursday, August 12, 2010 The movement for national pride has become mired in reverse racism and has lost the cerebral moorings that gave it direction and made it an invincible force in the British era

It is a tragedy that today's Swadeshi movement has no leader of calibre like Sri Aurobindo, Bipin Chandra Pal, Ananda Coomaraswamy, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Veer Savarkar. They were all products of the British period, who received modern education. They were nationalists to the core, but not by berating the British racially. Rather it was acknowledged that although India is an ancient civilisation, British principles of democracy, modern education, equality before law, had helped in its revitalisation. 

English education, far from being resisted, was welcomed by the Hindus in the 19th century. We had a series of Hindu colleges and schools in India providing modern education being set up in India. The Tamils of Sri Lanka established chains of ‘Hindu colleges’ (actually schools) where high quality English education was given in a Hindu environment. 

British archaeologists like Alexander Cunningham and John Marshall excavated priceless treasures of Hindu and Buddhist archaeology unsealing to us the past that we had forgotten. All modern Indian languages developed exemplarily in the 19th century after coming into contact with the English language. The first Indian language dictionaries and Indian language fonts were developed by the British. Journalism and public speaking grew in India during British rule. Railways actually narrowed psychological distances.

But to many Hindu nationalists today, the British rule was nothing but an ‘evangelical enterprise’. Interestingly, many of them see the West as a career option (many having settled in the US) but not as the civilisation that deserves to be studied for the growth of its public institutions, political and scientific development.

An Open Letter to Manoj-baboo from RY Deshpande Comment posted by: Anonymous

Govind, Your views are a timely reminder to not put all people into categories so rashly.

Leaving aside this Heehs affair, Dr. Deshpande, could I request that you initiate a series of postings to understand the foundations of modern Western culture. This could be a counterpart of sorts to the Sanatana Dharma series that is posted. This is of course quite an audacious undertaking and requires much breath and mastery over the subject. But if a start could be made, it could be great.

I was thinking perhaps to start  with reviews and summaries on the great books of Western civilization starting with Homer's Odyssey and Iliad etc. and possibly Sri Aurobindo's commentaries wherever applicable.

The "West" has come to mean in my mind this amorphous entity which seems opposed to all the high endeavours of our (Indian) culture, and surely this is not true. 

School of Management Sciences Is Organizing National Conference on Spirituality and Ethics in Management on 30-31 October 2010. Varanasi, U.P -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/12/2010 Relevance of Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatama Gandhi, Aristotle, Confucius, Kautilya, Immanuel Kant, and Stuart Mill for Management

A theme emerging in the management literature is that of spirituality and ethics in management to overcome the deficiencies of modern management theories and practices. Interest in spirituality and ethics has grown among management scholars, practitioners, and professionals and has become a subject of serious discussion. This conference aims at providing a common platform for management practitioners, professionals, academicians, and students to exchange, discuss, and present their ideas, thoughts, and research work on the theme of the conference which is “Spirituality and Ethics in Management”.