NEW E-book by Matriwords: Available HERE. FROM THE INTRODUCTION CHAPTER Chaturvedi Badrinath once wrote: “reformers have so far tried to change India; the point, however, is first to understand India.” (1993, p. 29) This book is the outcome of some of my attempts to understand India. This attempt is led by my interest... Continue Reading →
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 Young India Awakes CHAPTER V The train was on time, 1:55am. And luckily, Aman was able to convince a fellow passenger to switch seats so that Yuvaan could stay... Continue Reading →
Equality and Freedom: Reading What a Yogi Writes ‘About Woman’
A civilisation as ancient as Indian has well-developed perspectives on key questions of human existence, human development, aims of human life, culture, identity, womanhood, relation between individual and society, etc. which not only shape and contextualise women’s awareness of themselves and their experiences, but also facilitate a keener and deeper perception of the world around.... Continue Reading →
A Series Inspired by India’s Rebirth – 5
Author: Beloo Mehra (2019). Published under the title ‘When Young India Awakes’ in Sri Aurobindo’s Action, Vol. 50 (5), pp. 8-11 CONTINUED FROM Part 4 CHAPTER IV Yuvaan looked around the large but sparsely furnished, railway waiting room – some not-so-comfortable-looking wooden benches pushed against the two walls of the room, a few plastic... Continue Reading →
Notes on Reading ‘Abhaya’ in the Light of Sri Aurobindo
“I revere Krishna today as one of the first architects of a unified India. Yes, I believe he did exist in the obscure history of India…. Abhaya has been my window to explore and experience Krishna Vaasudeva.” This is how Saiswaroopa Iyer introduces the second lead of her debut novel, Abhaya, in... Continue Reading →
A Series Inspired by India’s Rebirth – 4
Author: Beloo Mehra (2019). Published under the title ‘When Young India Awakes’ in Sri Aurobindo’s Action, Vol. 50 (4), pp. 8-10 CONTINUED FROM Part 3 CHAPTER III Yuvaan had been in Kashi for only two days. And he was already on his way elsewhere — to Rishikesh. His mother had gone for... Continue Reading →
A Note on the Future of Inter-religious Harmony in India
Reblogged from the ‘Beauty’ blog – an excerpt from Matriwords e-book ‘The Thinking Indian’
[The following is an excerpt from a longer essay titled ‘Hinduism and the Future of Inter-religious Harmony in India’ published in my e-book – The Thinking Indian: Essays on Indian Socio-cultural Matters in the Light of Sri Aurobindo.]
Let us now go a bit deeper to see if Sri Aurobindo means something more when he says that Hinduism would have or could have taken religions like Islam and Christianity within itself. To do so it is also important to consider this assimilation process that is being spoken of here, and also what is meant when we say that Hinduism is an inclusive religion.
In order to remain inclusive, Hinduism should have the capacity to integrate the spiritual realizations, truths, and experiences revealed within the fold of other religious traditions, otherwise it is not inclusive at all. Going by historical record, we can see that what we now know as…
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A Series Inspired by India’s Rebirth – 3
Author: Beloo Mehra (2019). Published under the title ‘When Young India Awakes’ in Sri Aurobindo’s Action, Vol. 50 (2 & 3), pp. 16-19. Continued from Part 2 CHAPTER II The words that continued to float around in his mind that evening…. Sri Aurobindo’s words, words that he had read in that little book... Continue Reading →
A Series Inspired by India’s Rebirth – 2
A series written by Beloo Mehra for Sri Aurobindo's Action, about a young Indian's awakening to the soul of India, to himself.
Faith that is Śraddhā
Many years ago at a bookstore in a small university town in the US, I came across a beautiful picture book which I had to immediately buy. The book titled Living Faith: Windows into the Sacred Life of India is a collection of photographs taken by the noted Indian photographer, Dinesh Khanna. I had seen some... Continue Reading →
Some Musings on “Musings on Hinduism”
"You will often hear it said that it was the forms of Hinduism which have given us so much national vitality. I think rather it was its spirit." Sri Aurobindo wrote the above in his essay titled, "On Original Thinking" (CWSA, Vol. 12, p. 38). I am reminded of this as I get ready to... Continue Reading →
Wit and Humour in Sri Aurobindo’s Tales of Prison Life (by Kalpana Bidwaikar)- Part 3
CONTINUED FROM PART 2 Sri Aurobindo a great observer as he was, not only of the material arrangements in the prison but also of the people around him, the Britishers and especially the jail authorities could not escape his attention. The prisoners had to go to the court for trials at regular intervals.... Continue Reading →
Wit and Humour in Sri Aurobindo’s Tales of Prison Life (by Kalpana Bidwaikar)- Part 2
CONTINUED FROM PART 1 Sri Aurobindo’s prison life began on May 5, 1908. During the solitary confinement he was uneasy in the beginning, “but after three days of prayer and meditation an unshakable peace and faith again overwhelmed the being” (p. 11). He was confined to a solitary cell which was nine feet... Continue Reading →
Wit and Humour in Sri Aurobindo’s Tales of Prison Life (by Kalpana Bidwaikar)- Part 1
We are pleased to present for our readers a very special essay, which reveals a deeply charming side of Sri Aurobindo's magnificent personality and expression. Written by Dr. Kalpana Bidwaikar, this essay brings to light some of the remarkable wit and humour we come across in Sri Aurobindo's account of his life in the... Continue Reading →
