During his talks with the disciples Sri Aurobindo observed how “one nation after another was hypnotised by Hitler's asuric māyā and submitted to his diabolical charm, how the intellectuals did not raise any voice against the Hitlerian menace. On seeing a photograph of Chamberlain and Hitler taken during their meeting at Munich, Sri Aurobindo said that Chamberlain looked like a fly before a spider, on the point of being caught—and he actually was caught! Of course, the German dictator had already put Mussolini in his pocket. Only Colonel Beck seemed to have kept some manly individuality.”

Nirodbaran continues: How many letters had Sri Aurobindo to write to his disciples to show their grave error and the danger of the Nazi victory! He quotes just one such letter Sri Aurobindo wrote to a disciple, in 1942, "... it is a struggle for an ideal that has to establish itself on earth in the life of humanity, for a Truth that has yet to realise itself fully and against a darkness and falsehood that are trying to overwhelm the earth and mankind in the immediate future. It is the forces behind the battle that have to be seen and not this or that superficial circumstance… There cannot be the slightest doubt that if one wins; there will be an end of all such freedom and hope of light and truth and the work that has to be done will be subjected to conditions which would make it humanly impossible; there will be a reign of falsehood and darkness, a cruel oppression and degradation for most of the human race such as people in this country do not dream of and cannot yet at all realise. If the other side that has declared itself for the free future of humanity triumphs, this terrible danger will have been averted and conditions will have been created in which there will be a chance for the Ideal to grow, for the Divine Work to be done, for the spiritual Truth for which we stand to establish itself on the earth. Those who fight for this cause are fighting for the Divine and against the threatened reign of the Asura." …   more »

The new spirituality as conceived in the Realistic Adwaita is not based on the notion of a far-off God. The Transcendence here is a thing of living experience. The divinized creature will be in constant union with the Supreme. But that is not all. That is only one aspect of the spiritual life which makes the human spirit free. This freedom is necessary for the individual so that, when he lives, moves and acts in the world, the lower forces of nature may not in any way bind him and impede the fullness of his life, so that universal love, knowledge and joy may embrace all manifested forms. The individual being, one with the Divine, will be in union with the many without losing the oneness…

Indian religious movements mostly escaped dogmatism and rigidity because men had the freedom to reject past revelations and undertake freely their personal spiritual adventure. There have always been rebellious free-seekers and seers of the Infinity. Whenever there were signs of immobility, someone came with new spiritual vision. But even then there were nefarious by-products—religions, social domination, etc.,—which have impeded the free growth of one and all. The true spirituality is dynamically free…

The spiritual living which will be fulfilled by the supramental transformation is supremely free. There can be no dogmas, no cults and no moral prescriptions. Any effort to turn this spirituality into a religion is unthinkable…

“The one aim of this yoga,” Sri Aurobindo says, “is an inner self-development by which each one who follows it can in time discover the One Self in all and evolve a higher consciousness than the mental, a spiritual and supramental consciousness which will transform and divinise human nature.”

This aim is beyond all that religions have ever imagined.   more »

The idea of the Transcendence that lies at the heart of religion and spirituality is justified either by an infra-rational belief or a supra-rational intuition. Between the two stretches the realm of reason. Belief accepts unquestionably; reason doubts, questions and denies that which it cannot logically justify. In the upward evolution of mankind reason is at first a help; for it shows the inanity of the conventional dogmas, traditions, cults and the authority of the letter of some ancient book, śāstra, priests, theologians and theocrats. Reason refuses to accept these without enquiry, test and proof. When the rational man is confronted by the supposed divine authority he finds no arguments that would justify the claim. He declares the truth as reason sees it and discards religious belief as superstition that should be rooted out if mankind wants to discover the truth of itself and the world.

The revolt of reason leads inevitably to atheism. This revolt is not new. In ancient India the rational investigation of the transcendence, ideas like that of Karma, reincarnation, after-life, heaven and hell, of the immortality of the soul and of religious cults, sacrifices, food-offerings to the departed souls were tested by reason. These rationalistic thinkers, cārvāka, came to the conclusion that there was no rational foundation for these beliefs and deeds. They were vehement and abusive in their denunciation of the Vedic ritualism. …   more »

….the sole aim of life is to dedicate oneself to the divine realization. You must first (you may deceive yourself, but that doesn't make any difference), first be convinced that this is what you want and you want this alone—primo.

… I didn't want to put prohibitions in, because prohibitions … first of all, it's an encouragement to revolt, always, and then there is a good proportion of characters who, when they are forbidden to do something, immediately feel an urge to do it …

I am making a distinction: there are people who come here and want to dedicate themselves to divine life, but they come to do work and they will work (they won't do an intensive yoga because not one in fifty is capable of doing it, but they are capable of dedicating their life and of working and doing good work disinterestedly, as a service to the Divine—that's very good), but in particular, To those who want to practice the integral yoga, it is strongly advised to abstain from three things … So, the three things you put your fingers in your ears): sexual intercourse (it comes third) and drinking alcohol and ... (whispering) smoking.

Then I came to live in Sri Aurobindo's house, we spoke freely, and one day I told him, "How awful the smell of smoke is! It's disgusting!" So he said to me, "Oh, you don't like the smell?" "Oh, no!" I said, "Not only that, but I had to make a yogic effort to stop it from making me feel sick!" The next day, he had stopped. It was over, he never smoked again … That was kind. It wasn't on principle, it was because he didn't want to impose the smell on me. But I had never said anything: it was simply because he asked me just like that, while talking, so I told him. And when he stopped smoking, everyone had to stop too—smoking wasn't allowed anymore, since he didn't smoke anymore…   more »

I used to see Purani almost every night, and then some fifteen days ago, before he left his body here, like that, I saw him in a place ... It's a place which is entirely made of a sort of pinkish gray clay—it's sticky, gluey, and rather liquid. There were lots of people. It was a place where lots of people were going to prepare themselves there for the supramental life…   more »

In the monotheistic religious mind nothing could be more false and reprehensible than polytheism. The religion of the Hindus has often been vilified by the Western religious mind which finds that the idea of a superior one god is the final outcome of religious history: belief in many gods is bound to be false. We need not here go into arguments for the justification of polytheism. Suffice it to note that to the Hindu mind the many gods are the forms and personalities of the One. This One is not assimilable to the monotheistic God, although some Indians, beleaguered by the criticism of their belief in many gods, have tried to prove that Hinduism also is in essence monotheistic, by quoting the Vedic verse that the Being is One (ekam sat), people give it various names —Indra, Agni, etc.

In the Upanishad there is a report of a dialogue. Shakalya asks Yajnavalkya, “How many gods are there?”, and Yalnavalkya answers in accordance with the tradition: “Three hundred and three, and three thousand and three.” “All right. How many gods are there?” Shakalya repeats his question. ‘Thirty three.’ But the enquirer reiterates the question several times and Yajnavalkya’s answers are respectively six, three, two, and finally, one (eka). But this one god should not be equated with the monotheistic god who is the creator of the world but sits outside it—and governs it like an autocrat. A Vedic hymn says that the one Person (puruşa) encompasses the earth, but exceeds it. This implies that he surpasses the universe and is therefore the Transcendence, but it also implies that the world is also he. All animate and inanimate things are his becoming. Nothing is outside him.

In Indian polytheism “the worshipper of many gods,” Sri Aurobindo says, “still knows that all his divinities are forms, names, personalities and powers of the One; his gods proceed from the one Purusha, his goddesses are energies of the one divine Force.” ...   more »

This book commemorates the birth centenary of Laurence Pinto (1907–2001), who was given the name Udar by Sri Aurobindo in 1938. Printed on art paper, it is a collection of anecdotes, facts, stories, and over 400 photographs that reveal the story of Udar’s life. Educated and trained as an aeronautical engineer, his talents and skills were used by the Mother in the creation of Harpagon Workshop and the construction of Golconde, the organisation of the Physical Education Department, and the development of the Handmade Paper Unit, the Laboratoires Senteurs, Coco Garden Concrete Works, and Honesty Engineers and Contractors. The photographs and memories recorded here give vivid testimony to Udar’s dynamic presence in the daily life of the Ashram over a span of many years.   more »

Religion with all its imperfections, bigotry, arrogance and intolerance reflects nonetheless the spiritual yearning of man. It ought to be a supra-rational expression of evolving conscious life, but is unfortunately supported by infra-rational belief-systems or abuses reason for establishing a solid theological framework. If we seek a higher truth of knowing, living and loving we cannot admit of anything that is sub-rational or founded on instincts, vital demands, selfish desires and impulses…

Reason is an effective means of making ourselves free of our sub-mental propensities and superstitions. But it may also be used to justify as effectively our infra-rational beliefs and lower natural inclinations. The essential part of religions, purged of dogmas, creeds, rituals, intolerance and blind, absurd and crude beliefs, is the evolutionary urge of the growing consciousness-force towards a spiritual fulfilment… The luminous growth of the human soul is something that reason cannot understand. It becomes an obstacle to the spirit’s evolution.

Religion has perceived in its highest moments of lucidity that it has to rise above reason to intuitive spiritual heights, or plunge mystically deep into the soul’s blissful cavern to discover its true essence… The spiritual aspiration in religious life “is to discover the Infinite, the Absolute, the One, the Divine, who is all these things and yet no abstraction but a Being.”

Reason does not possess either the vision or the power to make such a discovery. Nevertheless it has a part to play even in this exploration. Its only legitimacy in this is to explain to the intellect of man the truth and law of spiritual existence. Taking its premises from the direct spiritual experiences of the truth-seers, reason, in India, has produced a spiritual philosophy which has given a rational justification of spiritual truths to the enlightened intelligence. However philosophy is only a preliminary aid... For man, the mental being, this spiritual intelligence is a bridge between reason and spirit. And religions which have been able to get rid of the rational objections and irrational beliefs, dogmas and creeds, have prepared some for the pursuit of the free spiritual goal. Religion thus purified is the native form of spiritual urge… The value of religion lies in its capacity to be the soul’s guide in its ascension and expansion so that the spirit may manifest its knowledge, power and harmonious joy.   more »

The Western religious mentality is most baffled by what it calls Hinduism. There is more formal unity in the other Indian religions that have a recognized founder, a teaching that is more or less canonical. But even the fixed and systematized elements are not as fixed and rigid as in the monotheistic religions. Buddhism, for example, in its earlier stage was nothing more than one of the many explorations for the salvation of man at a time when there was an intense seeking in many directions. It was certainly not even a spiritual movement: Buddha has always evaded the question of the Spirit, the Self or the soul… The Western mentality finds it easier to understand a religious prospect based on fixed credos, fixed rituals and techniques of meditation and a fixed religious head.

Hinduism is quite baffling. It “admits all beliefs, allowing even a kind of high-reaching atheism and agnosticism and permits all possible spiritual experiences, all kinds of religious adventures”. Within this complete system (or rather lack of system) the thing that was fixed, and that was often taken to define it, is not at all a religio-spiritual but a social law. Today even that rigid social caste structure is rejected by the liberal secularist democratic idea, and undermined by the growing intellectualism and freethinking. Moreover, the spiritual movements of India, throughout its history, have always rejected the caste-system… We shall see that spirituality itself has to evolve and become a higher spiritual adventure and a new discovery ringing in a new era of knowledge without the possibility of error, a creative and supremely effective power and bliss without the shadow of suffering.

Religion in the West hardly admits the free seeking of the aspiring human mind. Instead of the freedom of the spirit what matters most is the dogma, the theological credo. To attain salvation the adherent has inevitably to pass through Christ and his church. This idea of dependence is the premise on which the intellect builds the theological argument. Even theologians who are considered innovators and revolutionary… are not free of this basic dependence. There are people who think that they can know truth by themselves and can be virtuous and spiritual by their own effort and can be redeemed through personal discipline. It is concluded that “the view that we can and should gain the basis and meaning of our existence by our own power is not simply an error that might be corrected by enlightenment, but rather is nothing other than sin.” …

In the evolutionary philosophy of the Realistic Adwaita static religious view of credal theology cannot be of any constructive help. We have to look for a more subtle, creative, inventive and innovative form of religious living on which a higher and truly free spiritual living can be established. The Indian religious vision can be the spring-board for such an enterprise. There is in that vision “a union of unlimited religious liberty with an always orderly religious evolution ... It is this absolute freedom of thought and experience and this provision of a framework sufficiently flexible and various to ensure liberty and yet sufficiently sure and firm to be the means of a stable and powerful evolution...”   more »

The word ‘religion’ has so many different connotations that it is impossible to give a precise definition. Theologians, philosophers, anthropologists, historians and atheists have all tried to define it variously according to their expertise and view points. I am not competent to review all these definitions, and I think that for our purpose such a comprehensive review is not necessary. All definitions are formulated with words which themselves need definitions. As soon as we leave the field of the material our language becomes incapable of providing us with clear-cut concepts and meanings.

Almost all definitions of religion speak of the belief in some supernatural being or power, in something that appears to be sacred or divine. The origin of such a belief may be the fear of the pre-scientific man facing the devastating nature which he did not understand and which was all-powerful, or it may be, as in the organized religions, belief in the revelation of some superhuman mystery. In all cases the central concept is belief. And belief, as it is ordinarily understood, is not founded on personal experience or experimentation. It is mostly the result of indoctrination, the handing down of traditional lore of which the veracity is unquestioned and unquestionable. For the critics of religious beliefs this attitude is irrational. But believers themselves defend their attitude by saying that reason is an uncertain means of knowledge: there is an insight greater than reason which can discover truths that reason is incapable of knowing; the supernatural power or being uses seers and prophets possessing such insights to reveal itself to the ignorant humans. On hearing such statements the critic will immediately point out that there is here a second belief—belief in the words of the seer and the prophet.    more »

…Now the first question I would like to ask Angiras is, “What was the necessity of coming down to such a personal level of argument? Why take names and target particular persons?” I can anticipate the knee-jerk reaction to my question, “Because you guys have attacked Peter Heehs in the same way!” I would then answer, “We attacked Heehs because he was the author of a book which went into the public domain on highly sensitive issues. And may I know why do you hide behind a pseudonym, as if you do not have the courage to reveal your identity to your readers on the Net?”

I begin to wonder who this Angiras could be, hiding such irrepressible virulence under the beautiful name of a Vedic Rishi. It has to be first of all someone interested in the Veda to have chosen this name. Secondly, he has to be a close colleague and a diehard supporter of Heehs at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives. Thirdly, he has to have access to entries in Cold Storage registers (which he mentions later in his rebuttal) to be able to allege that Ranganath and me are liars. Now I cannot think of anybody else but Richard Hartz! If I have indeed made a mistake, may God bless his soul! If it is him, which is more likely the case, I would advise him not to meddle with this controversy and be dragged down to this low level of argument, which can continue till the end of Time and Space. Barring a few points, most of them can be easily brushed aside and are the kind of “tit for tat” arguments, which you do not want to waste your precious time on. But what I would like to tell Angiras (or Richard Hartz) is that this thankless industry hardly befits his scholarship, which until now has produced admirable articles in the Ashram’s monthly magazine, Mother India…   more »

It is often debated as how well did André realize the importance of the Work, that is, the Yoga of Transformation, the Mother was carrying on in her body. Some people claim that what he understood was next to nothing, for he never practised the Integral Yoga. On the other hand, those who knew him well and were quite close to him argue that he did practise the Integral Yoga and was fortunate enough to receive certain spiritual experiences, though he never talked about them, as the Mother had instructed him not to do so. Janine writes: “My father never talked about his spiritual experiences.” Pournaprema supported this statement and informs us: “André was a disciple of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Following their advice, he never spoke about his spiritual experiences except to them.” This argument might go on for ever, for André was always silent about his spiritual experiences and since appearance is always different from reality, no conclusion would be drawn. But from his writings, one can at least get an idea about how well did he understand Sri Aurobindo and his teachings. Let’s quote some portions of an article he wrote soon after Sri Aurobindo’s mahasamadhi…   more »

In 1956, André established the Sri Aurobindo Study Centre; this organization sent teaching materials, class textbooks and other objects to the Ashram School. However, this organization did not increase in size. Janine, in her letter to Nirodbaran, explained the reason: “In the statement approved by the Mother about the textbooks in the Centre of Studies, we read: ‘The role of the Centre is to serve as a link between the Ashram and the French people, etc.’ The link functions in such a manner that the Centre could never have more than a hundred members: as soon as that number was reached, some of them decided to settle permanently in Pondicherry…”

In the same letter, Janine writes about her father: “His concern was to extend all his efforts to the service of the Mother in France in order to realise the vast projects that she had conceived for this country. I know how attached he was to the Ashram, so much so that one day he asked the Mother (in 1955-60, probably) for permission to settle definitively in the Ashram. The Mother answered: “No such question! I need you in France.” If André has done anything for the Ashram, it is work more of a general nature which the Mother had assigned to him.” …    more »

The best way of preparing for the descent [of the Supramental] is the spreading of Sri Aurobindo’s teachings. But they have to be correctly understood, because misunderstandings would do more harm than good. If the Master’s message is considered as” another philosophy” and subjected to rational analysis, or if it is accepted merely as a convenient creed without the full aspiration of the inner consciousness, very little headway will have been made.

Here comes the University Centre. By awakening in the child the various faculties of observation, judgment, self-respect as well as those of analysis and reasoning; by making the adolescent discover the various parts of human knowledge instead of imposing on him the absorption of a standardized concoction of magisterial statements, the Centre will prepare students for a more complete realization. No doubt many of them will not go all the way to Yoga, but they will have acquired an understanding of the real meaning of Sri Aurobindo’s message.

That is why the University Centre is linked with the Ashram. The presence of Sri Aurobindo and of the Mother is an absolute necessity for the Centre to fulfil its scope and the Centre itself is essential to prepare humanity for the descent of the Supramental...   more »