Sunday, October 13, 2013

Faith and philosophy

The preamble of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust Deed states that “Sri Aurobindo Ashram is the home of persons who are the followers and disciples of Sri Aurobindo having faith in his philosophy and yoga.” That the beneficiaries of the Trust are the “disciples, devotees and inmates” is mentioned no less than half a dozen times in the Trust Deed. Bireshwar Choudhury, OCT 12, 2013

MADURAI TODAY AND TOMORROW - The Hindu Sri Aurobindo Society: Study circle meeting on 'Mother India - present problems of the future work, Madurai Centre, Lajpat Rai Street, Chinnachokkikulam, 5 p.m. Coimbatore Today - The Hindu Prayer meeting: Sri Aurobindo devotees Trust, Sasi Balika Vidya Mandir, 9.30 a.m.; Sri. Annai Meditation Centre, Kovai Pudur, 4 p.m.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Symbols of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother

Permanent pictorial cancellation The department of posts will introduce a permanent pictorial cancellation (date stamp) on Sri Aurobindo Ashram on August 15, the birth anniversary of the revolutionary-turned-philosopher-saint. The design of the cancellation is based on the symbols of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. The design was similar to the one used in postage stamp on Sri Aurobindo released on August 15, 1964. The pictorial cancellation will be impressed on all the mails posted at the Sri Aurobindo post office. By Bosco Dominique, Puducherry

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Mira Salganic, Dr. Ribakov, Prof. Kostuchenko, and Piotr Zorin

During this difficult time in the former Soviet Union there developed two openings which brought the public to some extent into touch with Sri Aurobindo. One was a small circle of academics in Moscow, all of them Russian Jews, which had noticed the great essence behind Sri Aurobindo’s writings. One of them was Mira Salganic, head of the Russian Writer’s Union and cultural attaché to India. Then there was Dr. Ribakov, head of the Oriental Institute of Studies, and Prof. Kostuchenko, plus two or three other Professors of Philosophy. They had a daring plan, which was dangerous but clever. Professor Kostuchenko wrote a book on the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo which explained his thoughts and included as many quotations as possible, but which was finally critical of Sri Aurobindo. The Oriental Institute of Studies published this book, and thus Sri Aurobindo became known in Russia. Many people who read the book became interested, and subsequently followers of Sri Aurobindo, in spite of the negative comments which Prof. Kostuchenko had to place inside the book to make its publication possible. 
At the same time in St. Petersburg a small circle of people gathered around Piotr Zorin, who was working at the University of St. Petersburg. This circle had established a link to the well-protected libraries in which all philosophical books were kept. They first copied secretly by hand or by photocopy some of the works of Sri Aurobindo and smuggled them out. They then started to translate the books, as well as they could, and started circulating the Russian versions by way of photocopies to a narrow circle of friends and likeminded persons. During this so-called Samizdat period, several Russians went to prison for having been found with an illegal copy of one of Sri Aurobindo’s books. 
Finally the group managed to get hold of Satprem’s book The Adventure of Consciousness in its French original. This book was not found in the Russian secret libraries; it had to be smuggled into Russia from France. Eight copies were sent to Russia via different routes and methods, of which two finally arrived. It then took the group eight years to translate the book. The translation was completed just as Perestroika and Glasnost opened the country to non-communist thought. The book was then published by Leningrad University and 100,000 copies were printed. They sold out immediately, and another print-run of 100,000 copies was printed and distributed. http://varuna.org.in/index.php/related-projects/publication-of-sri-aurobindo-s-mother-s-works

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Preponderances are a pointer to purity


  1. @onlyskr : I will search. It was the unabridged speech on Independence Day. Change from 2013 not in.
  2. [What's the quintessence of human coupling – desire, fear, need or just habit? Is love a hormonal reflex or fantasy?] http://www.millenniumpost.in/NewsContent.aspx?NID=29466 
  3. I am a huge admirer of Prof. Rajat Kumar Kar.Gives wonderful insight about Jagannath Darshan,Odia History and Mythology in lucid manner.#otv
  4. there are extensive annotations of Sri Aurobindo's writings available at http://www.aurobindo.net  http://fb.me/2wRAGPPlQ 
  5. @SavitriEraParty Btw, have been reading about Aurobindo. Very interesting. Need to read more. @SKS_Mumbai
  6. @SKS_Mumbai [give to our heart and mind a titan’s strength, a titan’s energy, to our soul and intelligence a god’s character and knowledge]
  7. @SavitriEraParty I will try to do that. Thank you.
  8. @gowryrowdy I'd request you to go through a few works of Sri Aurobindo so that you can tweet in future on relatively firm grounds. Thanks.
  9. @gowryrowdy The "if" and "I think" obviously lack ontological spine.
  10. @gowryrowdy Now the semantics: difficult to distinguish between "the best" and "the purest."
  11. Many insist on the single theory that plurality persists for ever thus giving monism a boost. All our preponderances are a pointer to purity
  12. @gowryrowdy Evolution is not an end in itself nor does it guarantee peace. Purity, in its pure sense, is the aim of all worldly strivings.
  13. @gowryrowdy "Natural state" is neither static nor final as Evolution and change are a constant. Yearning for "purity" is rather primordial.
  14. Have tried to read variety of philosophers n philanthropists works but cant help as i keep coming back to Sri Aurobindo. True Master !!!
  15. @hguptapolicy No either/or compulsion in a multi-party democracy. Ideology, even if not much known, should matter for intellectuals who care
  16. @jitengajaria But sir, IMHO, u need both, paan shop n dimaag shop.. this anti-intellectualism has cost Parivaar dearly...
  17. @sachinsvk Not to take that apparent chaos for granted is the task by which we lend volitional power & conscious collaboration to Evolution.
  18. @HumanAtom i dont think he is more true than swami vivekananda and sri aurobindo
  19. EMPHASIS (Enhancing Mobile Population’s Access to HIV/AIDS, Services, Information and Support) Sreeparna Chakrabarty http://www.millenniumpost.in/NewsContent.aspx?NID=32265 
  20. .@viraajm First read Bastiat, then Friedman, then Hayek, and if you have infinite time, then read Mises. Make sure you read Arun Shourie too
  21. @AmareshMisra Continuance of RSS and its distributaries are responsible for repulsion of people from the BJP thus safeguarding the Dynasty.
  22. There is no other way of being aware about the ongoing Evolution than persuading our own self about it like the double movement of the Earth
  23. Pining for relics of the past instead of being attuned to the possibilities under active fermentation is obviously an anachronistic tendency