Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra
It would be great to have a living Guru. If not, no worries. The Guru will come to you in other ways if you have the Fire. I can only suggest what I read but there are other great books and teachers too.
What to read? I started with Sri Aurobindo, the Mother. Krishnamurti, Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda. Letters on Yoga by Sri Aurobindo made things simple and easy. Prayers by the Mother. Books by Satprem on Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Sri Ramana. Nisargadatta Maharaj. I read them and practiced. All non Sanskrit
The Veda came to me after all these great teachers via Sri Aurobindo. Swami Dayananda. TV Kapali Shastri. RL Kashyap. David Frawley.
The books too will come to you in ways you can’t foresee. When you are ready
https://x.com/i/status/2071335485495013412
Sanatana Dharma allows us to question intensely until we fully understand
In fact, we should not accept a teaching until we understand
But there is also Sraddha
It is a deep trust in the Guru or the Divine. What the Guru says is true. At least that is how I approached the teachings of my Gurus. Sometimes if I didn’t understand I would keep that teaching in abeyance. But I would return to it and meditate on it deeper and more intensely
And yet, the Divine in Sanatana Dharma is not someone outside of me. The Guru is an intimate part of me though I don’t know that yet. The Guru is my higher Self, the Divine who has taken a name and form to fulfill something in this name and form called me. Such is the Sanatana teaching, liberal, open, all embracing, Divine
No one is forced to follow or accept but realize and learn. It is in this lineage that with utmost sraddha I say that if there is a point of disagreement with the Guru, one is allowed to articulate the disagreement as Arjuna did with Sri Krishna himself
https://x.com/i/status/2073706063111585938
Siddhanjana is a book by TV Kapali Sastry originally written in Sanskrit, made available by Sakshi Trust, Bengaluru
Anyone who wants to study the spiritual meaning of the Veda must read this. It is in the line of development rediscovered for us by Sri Aurobindo. Kapali Sastry was truly a great scholar and his impact on Indology and Vedology has not been fully appreciated yet.
Someday, we should extend his work to the entire Veda, not just the first ashtaka that he elaborated before he passed away. RL Kashyap tried valiantly and did a wonderful job and that too must be appreciated
Kapali Sastry is not well-known even as he exemplified for us the direction and the means to understand the Veda. He was the student of the great Ganapati Muni, the first disciple of Sri Ramana Maharishi. It is beautiful to see two lineages come in him. Vedanta from Sri Ramana Maharishi and the Purna Yoga from Sri Aurobindo and the Mother
https://x.com/i/status/2073721425324585346
Two philosophers with entirely different lifestyles.
J Krishnamurti wore Savile Row suits, Lobb shoes, Chauvet ties, and drove a Mercedes.
Sri Aurobindo wore a white dhoti, one end wrapped around his shoulder.
Krishnamurti travelled around the world, teaching and meeting prominent people. Sri Aurobindo stayed in two rooms for 24 years, reading and writing. He refused to meet anyone, even turning down a request from Mahatma Gandhi.
There are other differences , but similarities too. Both believed that transforming oneself was the way forward.
https://x.com/i/status/2073688709522980909
Sri Aurobindo had a strong non-denominational spirituality. He was not parochial. He did not confuse culture with spirituality. With the Mother, he ushered in modern Hinduism. Beyond the Vedas, with his own meditative insights
https://x.com/i/status/938442941743243264
In fact that Sri Aurobindo found the root of His Savitri in the RgVeda and spoke contrary to trad Hindus extolling Upanishads as 'refined n essence of veda'. Rgveda alone, he said speaks of heavenly waters drenching the earth as divinisation of matter flash/earth.
But he as clear that all His new findings were following the Leonine spirit of the Gita n RG Veda which was left unfinished in the past by rishis then and said more will come in future thus making s.dharma an infinite strong treasure of God
so Sri Aurobindo reaffirmed hinduism was actually most the LIFE TRANSFORMING as opposed to life weakening mayavada budhistic jainism that had gripped its ppl. So He was not beyond the Vedas so as to divorce Him from sanatana dharma.
https://x.com/i/status/938783421442154496
Dialogue with Hinduism
Fragmented Global Nuclear Order
[PDF] Brain Drain or Brain Gain? India's Diaspora Outreach under Prime Minister Modi
achieve foreign policy goals, and has he succeeded? The paper finds that Modi has
built personal extra-national networks, removed institutional barriers to personal and …
[PDF] Religious Conversion and Kandhamal Riots: Examining the Gap between Media Portrayal and Local Realities
Chakapad had fostered a sense of Hindutva among the … Conversely, the
narratives and statements of Hindutva fundamentalist organisations were covered in …
[PDF] Climate Justice Framings in the Age of Populism: Examples in the Global South
the project of building India (Bharat) as a Hindu nation. His populist appeal relies
heavily on constructing a moral distinction between the native Hindu people and …
[PDF] A Plate of Barrenness: Dietary Practices and The Construction of Male Infertility in Perumal Murugan's One Part Woman
condition shaped not merely by biology but by food practices, ecological rhythms
and cultural expectations. This paper examines how dietary habits, seasonal eating …
[PDF] Historiographical Interventions of Fractured Histories and Changing Landscapes
of official historical narrative, provide a powerful site of narrative resistance. By
recalling through meal memory, kitchens, and family routines, these works subtly …
Between Democracy and Authoritarianism: Insights from the Anthropology of Democracy
[PDF] Caste in the feminist classroom: towards anti-hierarchical futures
hierarchies, feminist classrooms remain insidious, concealed sites of caste violence.
This paper examines how caste is (re)produced in the feminist classroom, reflecting …
