Physical immortality was never considered as achievable by man till Sri Aurobindo emerged

Empire, the national, and the postcolonial, 1890-1920: resistance ... - Page 109 Elleke Boehmer - 2005 - 239 pages
self-conscious, self-directed, self-controlled'. Their joint focus on an integral cultural nationalism reminds us that one of the major points of textual conjunction between Nivedita and Aurobindo emerged in part (even if only in part) out of the shaping influence on both thinkers, of Irish nationalism, or at least of their perceptions of Irish nationalism (as well as, secondarily, ...

A history of India - Page 291 Hermann Kulke, Dietmar Rothermund - 2004 - 432 pages
Tilak and Aurobindo emerged as the leaders of the 'Extremist' faction. Tilak, however, was sentenced to six years' imprisonment in 1908; Aurobindo escaped arrest only by fleeing to Pondichery in 1910. While he had been a prophet of a ...

Swami Vivekananda: messiah of resurgent India - Page 319, P. R. Bhuyan - 2003 - 389 pages
RR Diwakar has also observed, "Aurobindo emerged from Alipore a changed man Jail had not only given him a vision of God but had also transformed him from a flaming agitator into a mature and serene political philosopher. ...

Bengalis: The People, Their History and Culture - Page 32 S.N. Das - 2002 - 284 pages
and finally approved of the Bengali extremists' programme of boycott, Swadeshi and non-violent civil disobedience. It was at this time that Sri Aurobindo emerged as a leader of the Bengali youth, urging the transformation of the ... Page 142 Aurobindo, like Tilak, outwardly, laid stress on a bloodless revolution in his public utterances, but the secret activities of both indicated a different policy. By 1906 Aurobindo emerged as the spiritual father of the new cult of ... The Bengal revolutionaries and freedom movement Dalia Ray - 1990 - 204 pages
Contemporary religious movement in India: vis-a-vis Ramakrishna ..., Ananda - 2000 - 349 pages
So it is not surprising that having been born and brought up in such a rebellious atmosphere and surroundings, the personality of Sri Aurobindo emerged out fully equipped to face the demands of the times and the society's new ...

Philosophers and religious leaders - Page 17 Christian D. Von Dehsen - 1999 - 246 pages
From 1908 to 1909 he was jailed for sedition, during which time he began to practice yoga and experience anew some of the religious teachings of Hinduism. Aurobindo emerged convinced that India's spiritual tradition could serve the ...

Godly men and their golden works, Maharajapuram Natarajan Krishnamani - 1998 - 841 pages
Physical immortality was never considered as achievable by man till Sri Aurobindo emerged. Efforts were made here and there, by man to attain physical immortality. But ultimately, every man including even those ...

Social Roles Of The Gita - Page 142 Satya P. Agarwal - 1998 - 475 pages
this historic event "an ironic twist of destiny" by virtue of which the Judge trying the case was one Mr. Beachcroft who was at Cambridge with Aurobindo and had stood second to him in Greek. Aurobindo emerged from the Alipur jail with the firm conviction that he was merely an instrument in the hands of the Divine, and that the Divine power was intimately and irrevocably working in the national movement, the success of which... The social message of the Gita: symbolized as lokasaṁgraha : ... - Page 100 Satya P. Agarwal - 1995 - 213 pages [The Message of the Gita Anilbaran Roy]

Life writing from the Pacific Rim: essays from Japan, China, ... - Page 56 Stanley Schab, George Simson - 1997 - 99 pages
From being a strong advocate of militant nationalism, Sri Aurobindo emerged as an apostle of a new creative effort to discover the vast potential in every one. His change from revolutionary to prophet of divine consciousness made him ...

The white woman's other burden: Western women and South Asia ... - Page 210 Kumari Jayawardena - 1995 - 310 pages
written in 1905, which the British authorities produced as evidence against Aurobindo in later years. Aurobindo emerged as a leading "extremist" working in both legal and illegal organizations.: In 1908, he and other revolutionaries were arrested after a bomb intended for the District Magistrate of Muzaffarpur had killed two British ...

Sri Aurobindo's plays: a thematic study, Sheo Jaiswal - 1993 - 260 pages
drama has had to remain content only with the crumbs fallen from its rich cousin's table. Such having been the condition of Indian English drama when Sri Aurobindo emerged on the scene, one can reasonably commend ...

By insinuating faith in "the world's mystic will that loves and labours", in "the immortality that thinks" in us, "that plans and reasons" and dwells in our secret souls, Sri Aurobindo emerges in the play as a singer of faith and love. ...

The doctrine of māyā in Advaita Vedānta, D. R. Satapathy - 1992 - 191 pages
Renovation achieved in Sri Aurobindo: Maya, the movement of Omniscience-Precept ion of a process, a law. Sri Aurobindo emerges as a landmark in the Indian tradition, perhaps the only combined talent to prove with experiment to the ever ...

Aurobindo's philosophy of Brahman - Page 90, Stephen H. Phillips - 1986 - 200 pages
Through the popularity of Bande Mataram and the notoriety of his sedition case, Aurobindo emerged as a leader of the Nationalist Party in Bengal. He began to work closely with the veteran Nationalist politician, Bal Gangadhar Tilak. ... [Bande Mataram' and Indian Nationalism (1906-1908). Being a study in the ideas of India's First Freedom Movement based on those rare editorial articles of Sri Audobindo and Bepin Chandra Pal which first appeared in the famous "Bande Mataram" daily between 1906 and 1908. Uma; Haridas Mukherjee Mukherjee (1957)]

Sri Aurobindo: a biography and a history K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar - 1985 - 812 pages
the second great Yogic realisation, the prolonged trial, and the honourable acquittal. May 1909-February 1910: Sri Aurobindo emerged from prison a changed man with an accession of spiritual strength and a new serenity, ...

Sri Aurobindo, his life unique Rishabhchand - 1981 - 427 pages
But before we begin a study of his political thought and life, it would be well to cast a glance at the religious, social, and political changes which had been taking place in India before Sri Aurobindo emerged, first as a political thinker, and then, as the most original and powerful exponent of spiritual nationalism. Rapid and revolutionary, indeed, were these changes ...

Sri Aurobindo: a centenary tribute Aurobindo Ghose, K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar - 1974 - 346 pages
A "Special Correspondent" reported in the & … August 1972) at the end of the Seminar: Si" "Aurobindo emerged as the polymath he really was under "  ...

Bengal: change and continuity, Ingrid Aall - 1971 - 270 pages
His visions and communications with God were the good that came out of the evil of imprisonment and were the basis for his claim that a new man, a new Aurobindo emerged from the Alipore Ashram in May 1909. l28 When Aurobindo came out of ...

Religious movements in modern Bengal, Benoy Gopal Ray - 1965 - 244 pages
Aurobindo emerged out of the Jail, a changed man. He now became drawn to spiritual Sadhana. He had spent about ten months before he retired from active politics. During these months he made valuable contribution to India's freedom ...

Makers of modern India: being profiles of 25 celebrities, Trimbak Vishnu Parvate - 1964 - 160 pages
But all was to no avail and Aurobindo emerged innocent, unscathed and triumphant. ... Aurobindo emerged from Alipore a changed man and stepped into a changed India. Jail had not only given him a vision of God but had also transformed ...

The Vedanta kesari Sri Ramakrishna Math, Madras - 1973
He experienced the charms of the ineffable unitive life. For him, the jail, the jailor, the police, the court, the accuser, the thief, etc. were all Narayana, whom he found in ' darkened souls and misused bodies.' Sri Aurobindo emerged from the jail with a sense of widened horizons which profoundly influenced his future life. Aurobindo Ghosh was born in Calcutta on 15th August, 1872, as the third son of Dr. ...

Modern Asian studies JSTOR (Organization) - 1980
When Aurobindo emerged from jail in May, 1909, after his acquittal for lack of evidence, he found that the atmosphere of the country had changed and nationalist enthusiasm had ebbed. In 1910 he left for Pondicherry, a small piece of ...

Proceedings Graciela de la Lama, Colegio de México - 1982 - 94 pages
When Aurobindo emerged from jail in May, 1909, after his acquittal for lack …

The Calcutta historical journal University of Calcutta - 1998
Aurobindo emerges as a tantalising figure in the firmament of ...

Mother India: monthly review of culture Sri Aurobindo Ashram - 1984
Sri Aurobindo emerges as a great formulator of the Art and Science of Aesthetics, who brought to bear on the subject the intensity of bis experience as a creative writer, the knowledge gained through his mastery of Yoga, ...

The Advent Sri Aurobindo Ashram - 1970
It is mainly by virtue of this insistence on man's more glorious future that Sri Aurobindo's later poetry is futurist." He takes up a number of poems and shows how Sri Aurobindo emerges not as a 'philosophical ...

Sri Aurobindo opposes the doctrine of disinterested action expounded by Gandhi

Neoplatonism and Indian philosophy - Page 42 Paulos Gregorios, International Society for ... - 2002 - 275 pages
Sri Aurobindo opposes the dichotomous Samkhya construal of Purusa and Prakrti. I, as purusa, am in communion with all other ...

Religion and caste politics, Shyam S. Agarwalla - 1998 - 308 pages
It is also the reason why Aurobindo opposed the Morley- Minto Reforms. The denial of responsible government was what disappointed intelligent political opinion in the Hindu community and the provision of separate electorates for Muslims ...

Facets of Mahatma Gandhi : Non-Violence and SatyagrahaGandhi Peace Foundation (New Delhi, India) - 1994
Like Gandhi and Aurobindo, Mill also emphasized that the role of the state should be limited and it should not unnecessarily interfere in the individual's life. Mill, like Aurobindo, opposed the state education and considered it as an attempt by the state to bias the thinking and life of the people. Thus Mill argues: "A general State education is a mere contrivance for moulding people to be ...

Martin Heidegger: critical assessments - Page 8, Christopher E. Macann - 1992 - 1603 pages
To the Heideggerian task of overcoming the dichotomy of 'realism' and 'idealism', a dichotomy intrinsic to the Western tradition, Aurobindo opposes a more comprehensive task, the task of overcoming the dichotomy of spiritualism (the ... [The radical thinkers: Heidegger and Sri Aurobindo Rhoda Priscella Le Cocq]

Sri Aurobindo Ghosh and Bal Gangadhar Tilak: the spirit of freedom, Suneera Kapoor - 1991 - 142 pages
Aurobindo opposes the law which acts as a check on freedom. Thus he says. "Better anarchy than the long continuance of a law which is not our own or which our real nature cannot assimilate."64 True law, according to him, must develop ...

The partition of the Punjab, 1849-1947 Prem Vati Ghai - 1986 - 192 pages
Aurobindo Ghosh should come home to liberate the Mother and through her to liberate the world. It may be added that in this very year Tilak started the Ganpati festival. Sri Aurobindo opposed the policy of protest, ...

20th century Indian interpretations of Bhagavadgita: Tilak, ..., P. M. Thomas - 1987 - 204 pages
It follows as a natural corollary to the above argument that Aurobindo opposes the doctrine of disinterested action, expounded by Gandhi. He says, "...it is a mistake to interpret the ... [The Jewish tradition and the Bhagavadgita Harold Kasimow]

The yogi and the mystic: a study in the spirituality of Sri ..., Jan Feys - 1977 - 371 pages
To the Sankhya dualism of spirit versus matter Sri Aurobindo opposes the Gita's view for which both are "two aspects, two powers of one self- existent b;ing" (EG p. 307). But speculation translates experience. ...

The basic experience Sri Aurobindo opposes to this dichotomy is that of a consciousness knowing itself to be rooted in the soil of matter. Classical Sankhya then must be corrected on the ...

Collected works of Nolini Kanta Gupta Nolini Kanta Gupta - 1974
Sri Aurobindo opposed that mighty onrush with his will and divine strength. He broke the hostile downward- speeding force by taking it into himself, even like god Shiva who swallowed poison and harboured it in his throat to release ...

The philosophy of evolution in Sri Aurobindo and Teilhard de Chardin, Jan Feys - 1973 - 276 pages
Now, Aurobindo opposes his view to that of theism, which he criticises. For, the separation and concomitant dependence of man with regard to God is nothing but the fruit of separative consciousness. "The individual regards himself as a ...

Educational and philosophic thoughts, Kewal Krishan Verma - 1969 - 291 pages
Sri Aurobindo opposes the formal class-room teaching of every subject. By training the faculties of observation, comparison and judging things, the children can be trusted to learn much about what they see, the pre-requisite is that ... Vision and voices: a study of a few educational concepts and ..., Kewal Krishan Verma - 1968 - 291 pages

Mother India: monthly review of culture Sri Aurobindo Ashram - 1974

Generally the word "will" is reserved for indicating what comes from the deeper being or the higher reality and what expresses in action the true knowledge which Sri Aurobindo opposes to knowings. So, when this will which expresses the ...

Mother India: monthly review of culture Sri Aurobindo Ashram - 1974
(Sri Aurobindo, Thoughts and Glimpses) This is about the mental being in man, that is, his mental activities; and Sri Aurobindo opposes knowings to Knowledge. Actually it is I who should ask you if you know what Sri Aurobindo means by ... Questions and answers, 1956

Sri Aurobindo shone brighter than most thinkers of his age

A fresh look 5 April 2010

A recent conference on Sri Aurobindo emphasised reading and re-reading the seer in a contemporary perspective. Argha Banerjee reports

AUROBINDO Ghose reached Pondicherry on 4 April 1910 and till his last breath was hooked to the place. After his retirement from active politics he made Pondicherry his home and pursued yoga and the realisation of the “Supermind”. His biographer Srinivasa Iyengar writes, “Sri Aurobindo chose Pondicherry as his ‘cave of Tapasya’, an impeccable choice in the given circumstances.” In 1910, Pondicherry, as Iyengar observes, “was not quiet, it was actually dead”. People thought Aurobindo had fixed upon a cemetery for his sadhana.
   His glorious spiritual legacy was an outcome of the rather reclusive life he chose after discarding the turbulent world of nationalist politics. He outgrew the hustle and bustle of politics and chose the meditative calmness and peace of ashram life. However, he soon immersed himself in aesthetic and spiritual pursuits. The wide gamut of his creative endeavours — poetry; literary theories through discourses on political, social and historical issues; commentaries on the Vedas, Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita; and methodical studies of yoga and metaphysics were all conceived and created in Pondicherry. From 1926 onwards, Aurobindo gradually withdrew from public life and started practicing “Integral Yoga”. The intensity of his thoughts and intellectual pursuits has inspired inquisitive minds.
   As a tribute to his spiritual heritage and with a view to exploring his literary, philosophical and political thoughts in a contemporary perspective, the Department of English, Pondicherry University, recently offered a forum to scholars to participate in discussions and academic colloquies in a national conference titled “Re-reading Aurobindo”. Writer Manoj Das, in the presence of Professor JAK Tareen, vice-chancellor of Pondicherry University, inaugurated the two-day event which witnessed discussions on varied topics — culture, civilisation, religion, yoga, psychology, mysticism and philosophy.
   Vijendra Singh, a research scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University, presented a paper titled “Culture and Cosmopolitanism”. He emphasised on Aurobindo’s writing on human unity in the backdrop of the Great War and explored his views on international relations vis-à-vis Nehru, Gandhi, Tagore and Hindutva ideologues. He argued that  Aurobindo’s vision of the limited role of the national state in world politics and of the necessity of human unity beyond frontiers has affinity with Gandhi’s and Tagore’s views on the subject.
   S Ganesan in “Re-visioning India: A Study of Sri Aurobindo’s The Renaissance in India” pointed out Aurobindo’s vision of India. Aurobindo, he said, “pointed out the limitations of India’s past and present and the futility of imitating the West.”
   Of all the papers that incisively analysed Sri Aurobindo’s role in the current context, Ananda Reddy’s “Levels of Mystic Poetry” deserves special mention. Director of Sri Aurobindo Centre for Advanced Research, Reddy classified his mystic poetry into three levels — occult, psychical and spiritual. He said, “True occultism means research into supra-physical realities, unveiling the hidden laws of nature and all that lies beneath the surface of things. The influence and correlation between the works of Sri Aurobindo and Coleridge, Blake and Yeats is great.” He observed that in psychic poetry there is an intense beauty of emotion, a fine subtlety of true perception and an intimate language.
   Professor Rod Hemsell of the University of Human Unity, Auroville, Tamil Nadu, presented Aurobindo’s poetry in the context of two treatises. His remarkable presentation depended more on the verbal context and auditory association in the readings from Savitri than on academic rigour or literary analysis. The reading imparted a unique dimension to the proceedings.
   Professor Makarand Paranjape, head of the department of English, Jawaharlal Nehru University, explored the problems and possibilities of “Re-reading Sri Aurobindo”. His paper offered various strategies of study to make research on Aurobindo’s contemporary relevance revealing. Raju Praghi, a research scholar at Pondicherry University, presented his views on “Women, Ambition and Jealousy in Aurobindo’s Plays”. The analysis aimed to study the role and importance of women in the plays and to explore their contemporary relevance.
   Aurobindo’s epic Savitri was the centre of recurrent focus. The portrayal of Savitri and Satyavan is magical. According to T Ramakrishna of the Sri Aurobindo Centre for Education in Human Values, Bangalore, the epic discusses questions regarding the origin and destiny of man — a recurrent theme in the works of such great minds as Immanuel Kant, Blaise Pascal, John Eccles, Karl Popper and Sperry Roger.
   The papers pointed out new areas of introspection and research. They underlined the importance of not only reading the texts but re-reading them in the present context. They also advocated the need to evolve a specific poetic theory dissociated from the dominant Western discourse to evaluate and promote a better understanding of Aurobindo’s creativity.
The writer is a faculty member of the Department of English, St Xavier’s College, Kolkata 

The mystic road to salvation 23 April 2010

Thanks to his copious humanism, Aurobindo shone brighter than most thinkers of his age, says Romit Bagchi

THE world as viewed from the spiritual standpoint has been interpreted in different ways. According to the Buddhist and Shankarite schools, the world is, in essence, an illusion, full of ignorance and suffering. Man’s salvation lies in getting out of it as soon as possible and disappearing into the original non-existence or non-manifestation. The Vedantic view differs a little in the sense that the world, though essentially divine, is, however, an expression of a distorted and perverted will divorced from the divine origin; and the only thing man can do is to become conscious of inner divinity and remain fixed in that consciousness without troubling about the world, for this external world cannot change and would always be in its natural state of imperfection.
   Sri Aurobindo, on the other hand, views life as divine manifestation, yet far from complete. “Here, in life, on earth, in the body we have to unveil the God-head,” he said. According to him, consciousness, evolving from stage to stage through matter, life and mind cannot stop at the limited consciousness humanity as a whole has reached so far. The drift of the evolution of consciousness must transcend mind to make space for the descent of a much higher consciousness. A section, tired with the changeless littleness or the vain repetition of the mechanical life, would at a certain point separate itself from common humanity and with collective aspiration for a higher existence become sufficiently intense. Nature would affect the advent of a superhuman species whose consciousness would be much different from human consciousness. According to Aurobindo, this is the secret intention in nature in her infinite unfolding of consciousness. Man is an intermediate stage, which nature must cross over to churn out a new race. Aurobindo says the emergence of a new race is a certainty if the evolutionary intent inherent in evolving nature is to be accepted. Moreover, he realised and embodied this higher consciousness in himself and affirmed it on the basis of the yogic realisation that, embodying the higher consciousness, was not just possible but in tune with the secret evolutionary drive of nature.
   Now, as India and the world are observing the centenary of Aurobindo’s arrival in Pondicherry it is important to note that he is not only a prophet of humanism but a mystic who has foreseen the advent of a superhuman race. The crisis humanity has been passing through is an evolutionary crisis and it could be resolved only through a revolutionary adventure of consciousness, though humanity as a whole cannot be expected to meet the demands of evolving nature. Only a few whose consciousness is sufficiently evolved can be instrumental in nature’s design to bring out a superhuman race.
   Aurobindo’s originality of vision lies in his visualisation of the descent of the supermind by way of spiritual ripening of the mind in a few selected individuals. The human aspiration for a higher existence augmented by nature’s upward evolutionary momentum would make the descent of the supramental consciousness possible, he believed.
   Can Aurobindo be called a philosopher in the strict sense of the term? Who is a philosopher, after all? Ambrose Bierce says, “All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusion can be called a philosopher.” Viewed against this definition, Aurobindo is not a philosopher. For analysing the delusion the life is a mere part of the Aurobindonian vision. Rather he is nearer to the view of philosophy as propounded by ancient Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle. Plato says in The Republic, “The philosopher is one who loves not a part of knowledge, but the whole. His passion is for Truth of existence”.  
   Aurobindo had scant regard for philosophy, as it is commonly understood. “Much of present day philosophy is only a play of words and ideas. It is mental gymnastics without any experience behind it. In India there was always a connection between philosophy and knowledge. True knowledge cannot do without experience, as true science cannot do without experiment. Indian philosophy is mental and intellectual, but generally it takes its stand on some experience, for instance, the Upanishads. Experience and formulation of experience I consider as the true aim of philosophy. The rest is merely intellectual work and may be interesting but nothing more… the real value of philosophy for man (lies in) giving him light on the nature of his being, the principles of his psychology, his relations with the world and with God, the fixed lines or the great possibilities of his destiny.
   “There is very little argument in my philosophy — the elaborate metaphysical reasoning full of abstract words with which the metaphysician tries to establish his conclusions is not there. What is there is a harmonizing of the different parts of a many-sided knowledge so that all unites collate logically. But it is not by force of logical argument that it is done, but by a clear vision of the relations and sequences of the knowledge.” 

His vision as enshrined principally in The Life Divine and Savitri seems to be one of wholeness where all the jarring parts our life is suffused. For according to him, all problems of existence are essentially problems of harmony. Matter, life, mind, spirit — all these just form an ascending series in the process of evolution of consciousness. Life emerges in matter because life is involved in matter. Mind evolves in life, for mind is involved in matter and life. And similarly, spirit evolves in mind in the course of the enlightenment of the mind through myriad births in the earth-existence, for spirit is immanent in mind, life and matter. The ultimate is spirit, an indivisible entity called “Brahma” in the Upanishads.  “The manifestation of the Being in our universe takes the shape of an involution which is the starting-point of an evolution — matter being the nether-most stage, spirit the summit.”