CONTINUED FROM PART 2 Author: Suhas Mehra (2019). Published in Sraddha, Vol. 11 (1), August 2019, pp. 140-152 We find several stories in Indian tradition which remind us of the various ways of the working of the Divine Grace. For example, Tulsidas who was madly in love with his wife, Ratnavali, became the Sant Tulsidas,... Continue Reading →
Aspiration, Grace, and Life – 2
CONTINUED FROM PART 1 Author: Suhas Mehra (2019). Published in Sraddha, Vol. 11 (1), August 2019, pp. 140-152 Grace Anything is achievable by aspiration from below and divine grace answering that call. Googling the word ‘Grace’ one gets the following results – “smoothness and elegance of movement; courteous goodwill; an attractively polite manner of... Continue Reading →
Aspiration, Grace, and Life – 1
Author: Suhas Mehra (2019). Published in Sraddha, Vol. 11 (1), August 2019, pp. 140-152 Dashrath Manjhi, a poor labourer from a village in Bihar, single-handedly carved a path through a hillock, a road 110 m long, 9.1 m wide and 7.6 m deep, using only a hammer and chisel, the work which took him 22 years. This road... Continue Reading →
Of Life, Mind and Progress
Author: Beloo Mehra, Published in Sri Aurobindo's Action, Vol. 50 (8 & 9, Aug-Sept 2019), pp. 5-6 “Western civilisation is proud of its successful modernism. But there is much that it has lost in the eagerness of its gains and much which men of old strove towards that it has not even attempted to... Continue Reading →
The Narasimha Avatar: Optimisation Gone Astray
"The Avatar is necessary when a special work is to be done and in crises of the evolution." ~ Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Vol. 28, p. 485. The story goes like this: The demon-king Hiraṇyakaśipu wanted revenge on Lord Viṣṇu and his followers. He undertook many years of austere penance to fulfill his desire. Lord Brahma... Continue Reading →
Sambhavami Yuge Yuge – Part 3
CONTINUED FROM PART 2 In this part 3 (the concluding part) of our special photo-feature the focus is on Chapter 11 of the Bhagavad Gita, विश्वरूपदर्शनयोगः (viśvarūpadarśanayogaḥ), The Yoga of the Vision of the World-Spirit. Here we find one of the most powerfully poetic passages of the Gita, the vision of the Vishwaroopam, the Universal Purusha. With our... Continue Reading →
Sambhavami Yuge Yuge – Part 2
CONTINUED FROM PART 1 In this part 2 of our special photo-feature the focus is on a few selected teachings from the Bhagavad Gita that speak of the Karmayoga, the Yoga of Works. Invoking the grace of Sri Krishna and taking guidance from the relevant explanations and passages from Sri Aurobindo’s ‘Essays on the Gita’ we present here a few summary notes – based... Continue Reading →
Sambhavami Yuge Yuge – Part 1
"...the colloquy at Kurukshetra will yet liberate humanity." (Sri Aurobindo) The Bhagavad Gita brings to us the essence of all the experiences and teachings found in the Upanishads and Vedas. Just as the Upanishads mark a culmination or fruition of Vedic knowledge, the Gita is considered as another grand synthesis of all Upanishadic and Vedic... Continue Reading →
Sectarianism or Loyalty (by Nolini Kanta Gupta)
"I am open to spirituality, but I don't think I can surrender myself or commit to any one particular path or guru or approach or teaching...that's just not me." "I think I am more of a universalist in my spiritual approach, I prefer being open and wide. No narrow religious type commitment for me." "I feel... Continue Reading →
What’s the Right Thing to Do: A Meditation on Dharma, Reason and Offering (Concluded)
Essay published in Collaboration: Journal of the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Vol. 40 (2), pp. 29-33. CONTINUED FROM PART 4 PART 5 (CONCLUDED) First, we must remember that the true being hidden inside whispers to us very softly through the light it shines upon its outer instruments; the intellect and Reason being the... Continue Reading →