the Orchid and the rOse

Karwar in Karnataka

2012-01-14T14:09:00.000+05:30

Google Reader (45): 'via Blog this' from ANTIDOTE by Sauvik)

there is a huge amount of natural beauty - and the weather is very pleasant all year round. There are forests, beaches, a river and mountains, too. Someone once told me that Karwar was the prettiest place she had ever seen in India. And I assure you that Gokarna's Om Beach, a short drive away, is surely one of the prettiest beaches in the world.

Architecture - undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places in India - and one of the most beautiful places in the world. Here, the beach meets the mountain and the river meets the sea- and there are verdant jungles all around. Green - from ANTIDOTE - Jan 6, 2012

Boita Bandana celebration 2011

2011-11-11T22:39:00.001+05:30

Bal Jagruti Association celebrating Boita Bandana Utsav for the 8th time in Delhi on 10th November 2011 at India Gate http://boitabandana.com/about-us.html

Pain & Pleasure

2011-07-31T18:15:00.000+05:30

Re: Why is there pain and suffering? RY Deshpande

In Sri Aurobindo's epic Savitri a question was asked by Savitri's mother to the heavenly sage Narad as to why there is pain in this God's world. "Is it thy God who made this cruel law?" focusedly she raises the issue of pain in this world of ours. This may be a wrong question, but that is how we frame it. The question should have been, how has pain entered into the scheme here. Narad gives a detailed answer. [Savitri, Book Six Canto Two] If things are to remain as they are, then there is no pain. But if they have to suffer change then both pain and joy play a distinct role in the process. Pain is the hammer of the gods, tells Narad, to break a dread resistance in the mortal's heart.

Pleasure Principle Kept Us Going… | SpeakingTree By : Mukul Sharma on Jul 30, 2011 ...because by wanting more than we could enjoy, we beefed up our chances of survival, writes Mukul Sharma

According to a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, mammalian brains appear to have more mechanisms for desire than they do for pleasure. That is, most mammals including humans, experience feelings of irresistible longing — be it for food, sex or whatever — that can be followed by those almost magical moments of bliss if the desire is met.

But the researchers also found that because of the way the brain’s circuitry has developed over millions of years, we’re far more likely to be left wanting rather than satisfied since wanting and liking are separate urges in the brain that are controlled by different circuits. When they occur together, there’s no problem and the impact on the brain is stupendous. But there’s a catch: the study results suggest that we are all inherently susceptible to wanting more than we’re actually capable of enjoying. […]

Since those early days, though, things have changed and we’ve been increasingly inundated with all kinds of over-stimulation whereas the basic brain circuitry has remained the same. Thus we’re not equipped to cope with the loud signals coming from the subconscious mammalian brain which always thinks more indulgence is better. Researchers believe this leads to addictions with drugs, sex, food and gambling.

And this is the crazy crux of the problem — desiring more without necessarily liking it more. It’s a formula for instant suffering due to the sheer helplessness of the human condition which constantly craves but cannot consummate. It might seem like a hopeless situation, being caught in a biological double bind of greed and lack of knowledge.

Family, country, money, & monkey mind

2011-07-23T18:44:00.000+05:30

Aug 8, 2009 6:26 AM True family and True country by Sandeep

When the goal of life changes, the people we associate with also change. Traditional family life between individuals is bound by a certain level of comfort, attachment, fulfillment of the desire for security and the satisfaction of egoistic demands. When the search for the Truth becomes an all-consuming passion, these traditional bonds of comfort are discarded and replaced by bonds of wisdom that tie us to a new set of people. The Mother calls this the True family. Continue reading →

Mar 5, 2011 11:55 PM Are Indians more spiritual? by Sandeep

The short answer to the question "Are Indians more spiritual" is "no, certainly not". If you look at the hoi polloi, they can be as materialistic as people in other countries - spending their leisure hours shopping in malls and merrily wining and dining their way through life. But the long answer is a little more complicated since it requires some occult perception of the cultural and subconscious atmosphere which pervades in every country. Continue reading →

Mar 7, 2009 5:08 AM True intent of the caste system by Sandeep

The caste system in India has been a subject of much controversy. It was supposed to be an identification of man's inbuilt inclinations and capacities, but gradually this truth was lost and it morphed into a mechanical system for slotting people into various social categories based on their birth in a certain family. It thus became a vehicle for stigma and discrimination. In the following selections from various works, Sri Aurobindo points out the true origin of the caste system - how the four castes are actually four latent powers (caturvyuha) within Man which must be perfected by every person on the spiritual path. The Brahmin represents the faculty of knowledge, the Kshatriya represents valour, the Vaishya represents commerce and relationship of harmony, while the Shudra represents perfection in work. Continue reading »

Mar 7, 2009 5:15 AM Right attitude towards money by Sandeep

Money is the visible sign of a universal force, and this force in its manifestation on earth works on the vital and physical planes and is indispensable to the fullness of the outer life. In its origin and its true action it belongs to the Divine. But like other powers of the Divine it is delegated here and in the ignorance of the lower Nature can be usurped for the uses of the ego or held by Asuric influences and perverted to their purpose. This is indeed one of the three forces ― power, wealth, sex ― that have the strongest attraction for the human ego and the Asura and are most generally misheld and misused by those who retain them. Continue reading →

Dec 12, 2009 12:10 AM Taming the monkey mind by Sandeep

As anyone who practises meditation will attest, it is not easy to suspend the thought process. Even if thoughts regarding the external objects are switched off, our internal memory (Chitta) keeps feeding thoughts about past events to our mind and these do not die down easily. Any attempt to control or force the mind to stop always ends in failure. What is required are some supports on which the mind can rest before it glides off into effortless flight. These are observations on a few aids which might help in quieting the thought process. Continue reading→

Oct 18, 2009 5:06 AM Self-control over speech by Sandeep

During meditation, our consciousness gains contact with the Superconscient realms and becomes filled with calmness and power. This power acquired through meditation must be retained as much as possible in order to successfully transform our consciousness. The power dissipates into the external world if we engage in fruitless conversation. Economy of speech is a sine qua non for success on the spiritual path. Continue reading →

Dec 6, 2009 4:35 AM Ill-effects of television on Yoga by Sandeep

The television, a relatively recent 20th century invention, is a powerful form of entertainment and escape from the travails of life. By identifying with someone else's life, we momentarily forget the ennui of our own life. TV also provides excitement in the form of sports programs or crime dramas (not to mention the absurd reality shows). But watching TV also has some subtle negative consequences on the consciousness of the spiritual aspirant which are seldom mentioned. In his poem Savitri (all of which was composed before 1950), Sri Aurobindo seems to have anticipated some of these ill-effects. He wrote in his poem... Continue reading →

Jul 20, 2009 5:55 AM How to eat like a Yogi by Sandeep

The desire to eat is a very difficult desire to control. Overeating is a deformation of the desire for self-love. We want to be full and happy but unfortunately, we end up filling ourselves with food and end up contracting all kinds of diseases. Desire for love gets deformed into desire for satiety. Continue reading →

May 28, 2009 4:51 AM Man shall not live by bread alone by Sandeep

The words of Christ: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4) have deep meaning to those who practice Yoga. The “word of God” here indicates that …Continue reading →

Mar 24, 2010 8:28 PM How to rise above the ordinary life? by Sandeep

It is question we may ask ourselves at times "Why don't we progress spiritually faster?" Because we may meditate for fifteen minutes but, psychologically, the rest of our life remains untransformed. The way we eat, the way we talk, the friends we keep, the desires we nurture - none of these really change. As long as life does not deliver any adversities which throw us off-track, we let things continue and allow ourselves to languish. These are a couple of conversations by the Mother Mirra Alfassa on how to rise above the ordinary life that we find ourselves in. Continue reading →

Sep 24, 2010 5:26 AM How to act in an unstable world by Sandeep

It is a commonly observed amongst those who have awakened to the spiritual path that once they have ceased to be selfish, they start thinking of ways to uplift the rest of the world. One may feel despondent at the chaos in society and seek some semblance of stability or some foothold on which a better future can be built. When we grapple with this intractable problem, we find ourselves psychologically evolving through successive stages of inner growth and along with us, the solution to our dilemma also evolves. Continue reading →

Sep 2, 2010 3:04 AM Disrupting the routines of life by Sandeep

Human beings are creatures of habit. We seek refuge in an uncertain world by indulging in all kinds of humdrum routines - big and small. We impart stability and coherence to our life by staying plugged into some social network, eating at regular hours, engaging in small-talk with loved ones or even strangers, meticulously scheduling daily chores - all in the desperate desire to fill that void within. One of the object lessons that we gain from Castaneda's books is the necessity of giving up attachment to such routines. That doesn't necessarily imply that one must become erratic in conduct; it's just that one must stop being an automaton. Continue reading →

Mar 6, 2010 8:48 AM How to make the right choice when faced with a serious decision by Sandeep

Oftentimes in life, one hits a fork in the road where one is faced with a life-changing decision and has to make a choice without knowing all the facts. In such situations, one must understand that there are alternate futures. Those who want to grow spiritually should know that the inner motive with which one makes the choice is more important than the choice itself. One must examine one's thoughts and ask, "what is the underlying motive on which my choice is based?" Is the choice driven by money, comfort, desire for social status, religious law, despair, anger, cruelty or the inability to admit mistakes ? Can one live with the decision in the future...? One must look for signs of uneasiness in the heart. Looking back later in life, it is quite possible that one realizes that the choice one made then was pre-destined! Continue reading →

Oct 6, 2010 10:53 PM The ability to withstand hardships in the spiritual path by Sandeep

Most people in the initial stages of the spiritual path attain what may be called a "passive calm". The glow on their face lasts only as long as they are surrounded by kind and gentle people like themselves. Faced with a protracted conflict, they either shrink from it in revulsion or unexpectedly lose their composure in exasperation. One must strive to attain an "active calm" which doesn't dissipate even in the midst of conflict. The ability to handle vicissitudes in the hustle and bustle of daily life has to be developed. It is in the darkest hour, when circumstances are the opposite of one's spiritual ideals, that one must be able to survive solely by the power of the inner lamp. Continue reading →

Apr 22, 2011 9:39 PM Rising above ennui or boredom by Sandeep

Boredom is a dullness of the consciousness; and if you seek the cure within yourself, you will see that it immediately dissolves. Most people, when they feel bored, instead of making an effort to rise one step higher in their consciousness, come down one step lower; they come down even lower than they were before and do stupid things, they make themselves vulgar in the hope of amusing themselves. That is why men intoxicate themselves, spoil their health, deaden their brains. If they had risen instead of falling, they would have made use of this opportunity to progress. Continue reading →

Jul 23, 2011 12:10 AM On absent-mindedness, instinctive and willful actions by Sandeep

In our daily life, we perform many actions without complete cognitive control. You may drive the car while lost deep in thought and later exclaim that you can’t recall the route you traveled. Or you have the nagging feeling that you have forgotten to lock the door but after checking you discover that you had indeed locked it. The 19th century American psychologist William James describes the case of a person who went to the bedroom to change clothes, but instead ended up going directly to bed. This article examines the basis of such phenomena from the standpoint of cognitive psychology, neuroscience and integral psychology. Continue reading →

Nov 29, 2010 7:04 AM Walking with eyes unfocused by Sandeep

“I’ve told you that the internal dialogue is what grounds us. The world is such and such or so and so, only because we talk to ourselves about its being such and such or so and so....Walking in that specific manner saturates the tonal. It floods it. You see, the attention of the tonal has to be placed on its creations. In fact, it is that attention that creates the order of the world in the first place; so, the tonal must be attentive to the elements of its world in order to maintain it, and must, above all, uphold the view of the world as internal dialogue.”Continue reading →

Dec 16, 2010 11:41 PM Sleep disorders : somnambulism and somniloquy by Sandeep

In this article, we discuss sleep disorders such as somnambulism and somniloquy from an occult perspective. There are supposed to be five concentric sheaths in our consciousness and during sleep, the subtle sheaths eject themselves from the gross physical sheath to travel in their corresponding subtle realms, as was discussed in an earlier article on Explaining out-of-body and near-death experiences. Some sleep disorders can be attributed to the irregularity in the manner in which these sheaths interact with each other during sleep. Continue reading →

Oct 24, 2010 10:13 PM Towards more conscious sleep and dreams by Sandeep

As the consciousness becomes purified through regular practice of Yoga, one finds that sleep becomes more active and more real. Dreams no longer seem to be phantasmagoric illusions but become excursions into the occult worlds. We truly possess one unbroken stream of consciousness, which during the day dwells in the physical world and at night interacts with the occult worlds and consequently, the experiences we have in dreams are inextricably linked to the events in the physical world. In this article, we discuss various ways to make sleep more conscious. Continue reading →

Jul 15, 2011 4:35 AM Why do we forget our vivid dreams? by Sandeep

In the May 2011 issue of the Scientific American Mind magazine, a reader asked the question "Why do memories of vivid dreams disappear soon after waking up?". According to current science, clarity of dreams depends on neurochemical conditions in the brain. In this article, we will examine this question based on the Integral Psychology of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Continue reading →

Jan 22, 2011 1:33 AM How can we “see” in our dreams when our eyes are closed? by Sandeep

In the Ask Brains Column of the Nov 2010 issue of the Scientific American Mind magazine, a reader asked the question, "How we can "see" in our dreams when our eyes are closed (since the retina is inactive)?"[1]. The answer given over there was that these dream visions originate either in the visual centers within the brain or in the latent memories residing in the brain which in turn stimulate the visual cortex. You can read the question and the response over here. That answer is based on current model of the brain in neuroscience; it assumes that the brain is equivalent to the mind and that consciousness is the result of brain activity. In this post, we present the answer from the perspective of "yoga psychology". Continue reading →

Mar 22, 2011 5:21 AM Physical marks appearing after injuries sustained in dreams by Sandeep

The worlds that we sojourn into during our dreams are as real as the physical world and nothing substantiates this fact better than the bone-chilling reports of physical body marks found on people who reported of having been attacked in their dreams. Here are three such incidents. Continue reading →

Jan 30, 2011 2:23 AM Memory transference in organ transplant recipients by Sandeep

There have been perplexing reports of organ transplant receivers claiming that they seem to have inherited the memory, experiences and emotions of their deceased donors, causing quirky changes in their personality. We will present a few cases and then discuss a possible explanation in the light of the occult insights of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother Mirra Alfassa. Continue reading →

Oct 2, 2010 3:22 AM On being truthful in speech by Sandeep

As children, many of us are told to speak the truth as we see it but as we grow up, we realize that the forthright manner of asserting the truth can have undesirable consequences, as it may impede some higher ideals that need to be upheld or perhaps because there are conflicting ideals which may call for exercising discretion. In the spiritual path, one gradually becomes conscious that behind the objective affectation of truth stands a Higher Truth which needs to be understood and manifested in speech. Continue reading →

Jul 14, 2010 2:13 AM Why are artists irregular in their conduct? by Sandeep

It is one of the contradictions of life that great personalities who are revered for their achievements also tend to be coarse in private life during periods of relaxation. In these couple of dialogues, the Mother Mirra Alfassa expatiates on the reason behind this anomaly. Continue reading →

Jan 11, 2010 12:49 AM Art as an aid in Yoga by Sandeep

Any activity, if done with the right attitude, can elevate the consciousness and prepare the foundation for an integral union with the Divine. This was the rationale behind Sri Aurobindo's assertion "All life is Yoga". A previous post discussed how the study of science can aid in Yoga. In this post, we cover Sri Aurobindo & The Mother's thoughts on how artistic endeavours such as poetry, painting and music can aid in the Yogic effort. Continue reading →

Nov 6, 2010 9:25 PM Identifying the celestial quality in music by Sandeep

One sometimes chances upon those seemingly divine pieces of music which seem to mystically inundate the heart and transport the soul into a reverie. It is as if their vibrations were suffused with some enchanting je ne sais quoi. This can happen even if the song happens to be sung in some alien language. The reason this exaltation occurs, according to the Mother Mirra Alfassa, is that there are certain universal associations of sounds which, when present in any devotional music, can magically open the doorway to the soul. Continue reading →

Jul 26, 2010 3:17 AM The rationale behind vegetarianism by Sandeep

This post discusses the rationale behind vegetarianism based on the observations of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. On the question of diet, there is no generic answer possible in light of the fact that the world consists of people with varying genetic makeup who exist in different stages of evolution - most are inclined to worldly success while some are inclined to inner growth. Continue reading →

Jul 8, 2011 10:57 PM How to choose the right life partner by Sandeep

A disciple, Dilip Kumar Roy, wrote a letter in 1924 to Sri Aurobindo asking certain questions regarding marriage. The answer depends on many factors, as Sri Aurobindo indicates in the following text. He outlines the three kinds of bonds which usually form in a marital union: (a) vital or physical, (b) psychic and (c) spiritual. His insights must be read with the understanding that no cut and dried answers can be given to such intricate questions. Continue reading →

Jun 17, 2011 10:23 PM Why the future is veiled from us by Sandeep

Imagine for a moment that you knew the future. Doesn’t that seem a good thing? You could relax and work without getting stressed out; you could plan ahead and direct your energies only in those paths that you know would lead to success; you could avoid all those intransigent people who keep trapping you in some debilitating vortex of time. There would be no wastage of energy, no error, no agonizing in hindsight over missed opportunities. What a utopian world it would be! But counter-intuitive as it seems, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother Mirra Alfassa offered some legitimate reasons as to why the future is deliberately hidden from us. Continue reading →

Indian ayurvedic massage by Pradeep Sharma

2011-07-07T19:26:00.000+05:30

Pradeep Sharma

(Free Lancer Masseur) Phone - 0091-9336454941

Professional Experience: Yoga, Sports and Ayurvedic massage

Sport Person & Worked as a Masseur at the Massage Center of the Best Western Hotel Hindustan International, Maldahiya, Varanasi U.P., India, from 15 August 2003 to Sep 2006

Working as a Free Lancer Masseur in Varanasi from 4th April 2003

In special case/patient we can provide health services at any place!

E-mail - careyourneeds@gmail.com Website - www.varanasimassage.com

Are u tired of your body? Do u want to get rid of your pain?
Do you want to be healthy without taking medicines? the remedy is here in indian ayurvedic massage. know about the great benefit of massage and help your body to fight the ravages of time. is it possible to stay young for a longer time? Is it possible to keep away a decaying old age? yes, it is possible. Indian ayurvedic massage can do this miracle.

massage controls time's journey. A person in his 70's looks to be in his 50's by the vigour and tremendous youthful freshness created by regular indian ayurvedic massage. the arteries and veins shrink and stiffen with advancing age.

Different acids leave sedip in them and the free flow of blood gets disturbed. The body becomes fatigued and limp. The youthful elasticity of the body is lost and this makes age overpower.

help your body with natural therapy to retain the power of youth for some more time. friction + contraction + relaxation are the base of indian ayurvedic massage. These steps do the entire overhauling of your body very quickly. the pace of improvement depends on the structure of your body.

Indian ayurvedic massage helps in your effort to stay fit, live fit and look fit. You gain healthy complexion, endurance longevity, better skin texture and you lose pain, stress, strain, fatigue and stiffness. Our massage provides relaxation to the body and mind. It is highly refreshing.

Neurological and Yogic estimations

2011-02-09T21:37:00.001+05:30

Yoga is the practice of bringing the divine into our lives

2010-08-27T19:46:00.000+05:30

Healing between the lines Daily News & Analysis - Reena Kataria - Published: Friday, Aug 27, 2010: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

Mann Sirohi, actor: I liked Powers Within by Sri Aurobindo. The book is about how you can evolve as a human being and it has such powers that every time you read it, you grow as a person and have a different perception or angle towards life.

Finding Auroville: An insider discovers reality in a utopian commune CNNGo.com - Rayna Jhaveri - 23 August, 2010

The Mother, whose life was filled with intense metaphysical and transcendental experiences, was the spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo, who himself ...

There were some undercurrents of anxiety in the air -- an almost tense, fearful relationship with money, jibes about underpaid, overworked volunteers, small-town gossip -- which, in my breathless euphoria of being in a new place, I brushed aside.

Yoga exercises for seniors: Half sun salute pose Helium - Youngbear Roth

My favorite yogin, Sri Aurobindo, said Yoga is the practice of bringing the divine into our lives so that we may transform our lives. ...

In India we live for the rain

2010-08-22T20:41:00.000+05:30

Santosh Desai: Monsoon schizophrenia TIMES BLOGS 22 August 2010

Every year we wait impatiently for the rains to begin, keep looking up expectantly at the sky, discuss when the monsoon will actually arrive with all and sundry and yet once the rain comes, it is only a matter of time before we start cursing it. This is particularly true for those who live in Delhi for it has the unique ability to turn a few drops of rain into a very splashy pond but this is turning out to be true in most cities as development dries up avenues for the rainwater to drain out.

The idea of rain connects with us at a very visceral level. The monsoon is the only season we really wait for. If in the West the sun and the summer are times of joy, in

India

we live for the rain. Rain brings us relief as the oppressive heat dissolves into an outpouring of wet joy. The dryness of summer that makes us retreat into our bodies magically transforms into the drenching oneness of rain as we get kneaded into nature. Rain makes us one with the universe; it is as if the heavens have declared their ownership of our bodies and have sent the rains to tattoo their claim on us.

Unlike the West where the rain is something that disrupts life ( into all our lives some rain must fall), in an agrarian country like ours, which has been so dependent on the monsoon, the rain represents life itself. The rain was fertility itself, clouds pregnant with portent dissolved into life bearing drops of sweet rain. Unlike most other natural phenomena that follow a degree of predictability, the rain shows a peculiar contrariness, an almost cussed temperamentalness that makes us thirst for it. A good monsoon even now is central to our sense of well being; it is the engine that drives our optimism about the immediate future.

But the rain represents something more than just the promise of fertility, something deeper than the functional necessity of having enough food on our tables. Rain is an act of cosmic release; the clouds open up and dance down on the earth in an act of uninhibited excess . The rain expends itself fully; every drop of promise, every ounce of potential is realized without holding back. For a society steeped in many sophisticated forms of restraint, the rain captured in metaphoric action, feelings that we could never quite express in real life. Hindi film songs burn with the longing that rain produces; from a Rimjhim gire sawan, sulag sulag jaiye man to a Kali ghata chhaye mora jiys ghabraye and many more, rain arouses the senses and makes them yearn for a sense of completeness. Getting wet in the rain is an act of passionate engagement with life, a mingling of the 'red earth and pouring rain' a haunting image created by Tamil poet, Sembulapeyaneerar. Hindi cinema of course uses this truth to the hilt, with the wet-sari-clinging-to-all-the-right-places act being a staple across the years. The rain becomes an invisible lover, whose absence creates the spectacle for the viewer who is able to insert himself in the blank space next to the writhing woman.

As we drift away from our agrarian roots and as our ability to control our immediate and personal climate increases, our relationship with the rain too has begun to change. We are still besotted with the idea of the rain, we still look yearningly at darkening clouds, but we are quickly sated with the reality of rain. It is too wet, too full of mud, red earth even, too uncomfortable and inconvenient to walk through and it ruins our shoes every single time. It blocks the roads, slows traffic to an even more parsimonious crawl and blows out power more often than not. The Indian city is in any case a barely functioning organism, and rain short-circuits its rickety wiring. We have mastery over the heat, al least those of us with access to air conditioning and the winter is tamed with heaters; only the monsoon inundates us with its indiscriminate inclusiveness. The rain is too wild, too uninhibited and shows absolutely no regard for occasion. In the ordered existence that we live in today, our love for the rain is beginning to dry out. We want to live as tourists in our own life; the rain forces us to participate in the reality of the world we live in. We still love the idea of rain; if only it wasn't so wet.

Sampadanand Mishra exhorted people to take up Karmyoga

2010-08-06T09:51:00.000+05:30

Bhagwat Gita and Yoga: Formula for a Healthy Mind

‘Bhagwat Gita and Yoga’- formula for healthy mind Noida: Jaipuria Institute of Management organized a cultural program “Personal Excellence through Bhagwat Gita & Yoga”, today.

The country can only be healthy and civilized if its people are healthy and loyal, said renowned thinker Dr. Sampadanand Mishra, Chief Coordinator, Sanskrit and Indian Culture Sri Aurobindo Society, as he exhorted people to take up Karmyoga and Bhagwad Gita.

The theme of the event was Benefits of reading Bhagwat Gita and practicing Yoga in Daily life, commenced with lightening the lamp by Dr Sampadanand. Dr. Sampananand Mishra received a warm welcome from the Dr. JD Singh- Director, staff members and students on his arrival in the school, here. The school campus resounded with the sound of “OM”.

The jam-packed audience at the auditorium of the campus included students, faculty members, and staff. Dr. Sampadanand Mishra spoke at length on Karmyoga, Yoga, Story and MahaVakya of Bhagwad Gita. There were also other invitees who gathered to hear the man who brought again the Karmyoga in the society talk on Indian Wisdom for Health and Happiness’.

Dr. Sampadanand Mishra said, “The corporate also try to do socially-relevant things through the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and there is now a new jargon for it too, Corporate Business Responsibility. Yes, sometimes some may not be doing great things, but at least they are taking baby steps. But yes, I would like to say that they should not use CSR just to build images but to indulge in genuine goodness.”

Dr. JD Singh, Director Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida said, “A lot of people believe that, what goes around, comes around. I don’t agree. I believe in the philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita, if I do good karma, I don’t expect anything in return. I don’t believe bad people meet a bad fate. They’re destined to be bad, that's their karma.” “My happiness comes from being creative. When you create something beautiful, you’re one with the universe. I’m also happy when I’m with my students. I feel every moment in life is to be cherished”, he added.

Emphasizing on student’s personality development Dr. Sampadanand Mishra said personality had a major role to play in our life. “Take balanced diet and practise yoga. Shun fast food and lead a simple life. One should have high dreams to achieve something in life. Don’t use mobile phones rather concentrate on studies.” He added.

At the end Dr Sampadanand Mishra blessed the students and prayed for their success in life.

Bindu Mohanty's presentation focused on Soil, Soul, and Society

2010-08-05T14:47:00.000+05:30

Ecovillage Conference Tokyo 2010: Relocalization in Action ... - By Penelope Reyes ecovillagenews.org

Professor Mohanty spoke about Auroville in India, her home.

Professor Bindu Mohanty described Auroville, the well-known spiritual community and ecovillage in Pondicherry, India. Founded in 1968 as “an experiment in human unity” and often called, “The City the Earth Needs,” Auroville is intended to one day become a city of 50,000. Currently it is the world’s largest ecovillage with 1800 residents from India and all over the world. Professor Mohanty, who joined Auroville in 1994, has participated in many aspects of Auroville’s development, including issues of environmental justice and participatory rural development, and in organizing university-level seminars on sustainability. Her presentation focused on Auroville’s view of the three fundamental dimensions of life: Soil, Soul, and Society. “Soil represents nature, the Earth,” Professor Mohanty said. “Soul represents the individual and the constant aspiration for perfection and to be of service to Earth and society. Society is the living and learning community that embraces all the nations of the world, all the cultures, and all of humanity.”

Western tourists alienated by materialism seek spiritual guidance in Auroville

2010-06-15T14:08:00.001+05:30

State of the World 2010: Beyond the Consumer Culture Worldwatch Institute - 2010 - 244 pages India del sud Sarina Singh - 2010 - 701 pages

Awakening Joy: 10 Steps That Will Put You on the Road to Real ... James Baraz, Shoshana Alexander - 2010 - 305 pages

Mindstyles, lifestyles: a comprehensive overview of today's ..., Nathaniel Lande - 1976 - 495 pages
Auroville, a model commune situated on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, between Pondicherry and Madras, ... Privately financed, Auroville has been in existence eight years and is expected eventually to house as many as 50000 ... [Thoughts.com Blogs - COMPLAINT AGAINST BBC BY AUROVILLE NOT UPHELD By n nandhivarman]

Safer Homes, Stronger Communities: A Handbook for Reconstructing ... - Page 172 Abhas K. Jha - 2010 - 370 pages
... developed to improve the quality and reduce the cost Earth-based building materials and technologies India Auroville Earth Institute, Tamil Nadu, India, http://www.earth-auroville.com Development, training programs, publications, ...

Frommer's India - Page 349 Pippa de Bruyn - 2010 - 768 pages
are often better value than what is charged in Delhi and Mumbai, where much of the Auroville and ashram goods are destined. First stop has to be Mission Street to spend at least an hour at ...

Compassion in the World's Religions: Envisioning Human Solidarity Anindita Balslev, Dirk Evers, Anindita Niyogi ... - 2010 - 192 pages
Karan Singh is the Chairman of the Auroville Foundation, President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Chancellor of the Jawaharlal University and a member of Parliament with the personal rank of Central Cabinet ...

Beacons of the Light: 100 Holy People Who Have Shaped the History ... - Page 520 Marcus Braybrooke - 2009 - 681 pages
In the 1960s, she started an international township, known as Auroville, near Pondicherry. Auroville, which was sponsored by UNESCO, is intended to be a 'universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and...

Design Ecologies: Sustainable Potentials in Architecture - Page 48 Lisa Tilder, Beth Blostein - 2009 - 256 pages
The Point Foundation also funded the establishment of Auroville in south India, where seven hundred individuals relocated from all over the world to form an international community that combined environmental design with alternative ...

The Climate Challenge: 101 Solutions to Global Warming - Page 34 Guy Dauncey - 2009 - 307 pages
... who have known nothing but our parents' love but whose parents are now saying “No — that's enough!” Will we respond with a tantrum, demanding the right to be the center of attention regardless of the distress • Auroville: ...

2012: Science Or Superstition - Page 206 Alexandra Bruce - 2009 - 304 pages
Auroville is the only internationally-endorsed 195 ongoing experiment in ... Also particularly instructive is the work described in Mirra's 13-part book, Mother's Agenda, which is posted online and viewable at the Auroville.org website. ...

Gaia and the New Politics of Love: Notes for a Poly Planet - Page 153 Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio - 2009 - 243 pages
Auroville, in Tamil Nadu, southern India, is organized around the ... Aurovilleteaches integral yoga, the founding spiritual principle of its dual avatar leadership formed by Mirra Alfassa (also known as "The Mother") and Sri Aurobindo ...

The Oxford companion to architecture - Page 950 Patrick Goode - 2009 - 1083 pages
... has designed several dwellings, including her own house at Auroville (2000). In

Sri Lanka

, Geoffrey *Bawa has left a substantial body of tropical architecture, including the Triton Hotel (1982) at Ahungalla. ...

The end of money and the future of civilization - Page 199 Thomas H. Greco, Jr. - 2009 - 268 pages
... international community of Auroville and the nearby city of ...

Permutations of Order: Religion and Law As Contested Sovereignties - Page 104, Thomas G. Kirsch, Bertram Turner - 2009 - 269 pages
New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 908-34. Minor, RK 2000. Routinized charisma: The case of Aurobindo and Auroville, in Religion and Public Culture: Encounters and Identities in Modern South India, edited by KE Yandell ...

Worldwide Destinations: The Geography of Travel and Tourism - Page 459 Brian G. Boniface, Chris Cooper - 2009 - 644 pages
The perceived 'other-worldliness' of countries such as India and Nepal attracts many Western tourists alienated by materialism, some of whom seek spiritual guidance in religious communities or ashrams. Auroville near the former French...

Roger Anger: Research on Beauty Architecture 19532008 Anupama Kundoo, Roger (CON) Anger - 2009 - 192 pages
A sculptural plasticity and a highly individual take on the Modernist vernacular infuse all of his work; but Anger, who died in 2008, will be remembered for his ambitious master plan for the utopian Indian city of Auroville, ...

Yoga, karma, and rebirth: a brief history and philosophy Stephen H. Phillips - 2009 - 358 pages
... in Auroville, South India), Kimberley Jones, Esta Herold ("Seva"), Tenille Collard, Jessica Goulding, Jenny Dawson, and Christina Sell. Two of these guru-/7s attended my lectures on Indian philosophies at UT and read portions of the ...

Integral ecology: uniting multiple perspectives on the natural world - Page 425 Sean Esbjörn-Hargens, Michael E. Zimmerman - 2009 - 796 pages
These examples include liberation theology in social change work in Latin America (Gutierrez, 1973), the work of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother in community engagement in Pondicherry and Auroville, India (Satprem, 1970); the village-based ...

Environmental governance: power and knowledge in a local-global world Gabriela Kütting, Ronnie D. Lipschutz - 2009 - 224 pages
like Auroville in South India and the Federation of Damanhur in Italy; small rural ecovillages like Gaia Asociacion in Argentina and ...

Indian States at a Glance 2008-09, Bhandari Laveesh - 2009 - 157 pages
A visit to Auroville, 8 kms from the main town, shows the way of the Ashram in building a world of peace and progressive harmony. There are a number of churches, temples and mosques in ...

Making conservation work: securing biodiversity in this new century, Ghazala Shahabuddin, Mahesh Rangarajan - 2007 - 298 pages
by dedicated work in the re-greening of Auroville and teaching at Pondicherry University. A quarter century ago, Auroville was an open denuded moonscape. Today the lush landscape testifies to the power of ideas and hard work. ...

Altered Destinations: Self, Society, and Nation in India - Page 91 Makarand Paranjape - 2009 - 214 pages
Indeed, Sanskrit is taught from childhood not only in the ashram schools, but also at Auroville, the community that the Mother founded. On 11 November 1967, the Mother said, ...

Basics of Hinduism - Page 172 Dr. Shivendra Kumar Sinha - 2008 - 190 pages
His work is being continued even after his death from his Ashrama called Aurovillein Pondicherry, where a strenuous effort has been put in by his companion, Mirra Alfassa known as 'Mother'. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) ... [French People of Turkish Descent: Mirra Alfassa, Eva Green, Mevlüt Erdinç, Magali Noël, Fikret Mualla Sayg?, Gülseren, Alexander Vallaury, Hindu Religious Figures: Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Tibbetibaba, Mirra Alfassa, Mahasiddha, Dattatreya, Eknath Easwaran,French Expatriates in Japan: Mirra Alfassa, Louis-Émile Bertin, Léonce Verny, Albert Kahn, Julie Dreyfus, Gustave Emile Boissonade, Pavitra, Bengali Spiritual Writers: Sri Aurobindo, Philosophy and Spiritualism of Sri Aurobindo, Mirra Alfassa, Integral Yoga, Integral Psychology, Indian Spiritual Writers: Paramahansa Yogananda, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Sri Aurobindo, U. G. Krishnamurti, Mirra Alfassa, Deepak Chopra]

Realizing: Webster's Quotations, Facts and Phrases - Page 297 Inc Icon Group International - 2008 - 363 pages
[WP] Auroville. Auroville is an international township, near Pondicherry in South India, whose sole purpose is to realize human unity in diversity. ... The Aurovillesettlement has members from around 35 countries in the world. ...

Ecopolis: Architecture and Cities for a Changing Climate - Page 594 Paul F. Downton - 2008 - 607 pages
Sullivan, WM 1994 The Dawning of Auroville Auroville Press, Auroville. Sustainable Communities Task Force 2000 Appendix B Case Studies President's Council on Sustainable Development accessed 17 January. Swan, J. 1993 The Power of Place: ...

SELF-SUFFICIENT URBANISM: a Vision of Contraction for the ... - Page 83 Jaime Correa - 2008 - 100 pages
Although they are not in full compliance, these few rural and urban Communities of Interest have the preliminary capacity to illustrate a world yet to come: Auroville,

India

Alys Beach, USA BedZed, Great Britain Berkley Ecovillage, ...

How an Average Man Lived an Adventurous Life: Includes Lists of ... - Page 290 John Linnemeier - 2008 - 328 pages
When he got to me, I mentioned that I had been to Auroville, among other places. He asked me what the spiritual climate was like in the wake of the death of the "divine mother." This was the name by which the lady who had been in charge ...

Waking Up and Getting Ready: About Gardens, Spirituality and Wellness - Page 172 Blair Frank - 2008 - 196 pages
like Auroville in South India, the Federation of Damanhur in Italy and Nimbin in Australia; small rural ecovillages like Gaia Asociacion in Argentina and ... Sufficient: A Modern Guide to Sustainable Living Tom Petherick - 2008 - 288 pages Plant lives: borderline beings in Indian traditions, Ellison Banks Findly - 2008 - 617 pages
This book examines, for the first time, those threads in Indian thought that present a prolife view of plants. Philosophy of Mathematics - Page 501, John Francis - 2008 - 160 pages
... but skilled biologists may be a limited resource as well. A brick-pool living machine was built by Americans in Auroville.

India

. ...

Who Are We? - Page 16 Vladimir Megré - 2008 - 264 pages
Auroville was initiated in 1968 by the wife of the founder of the Integral Yoga movement Sri Aurobindo, ... Upon Aurobindo's death in 1950, she succeeded him as spiritual leader, and went on to found the Auroville community in 1968. ...

Sri Aurobindo - A Contemporary Reader Sachidananda Mohanty, Aurobindo Ghose - 2008 - 180 pages
While his reputation as a mystic and a spiritualist has spread far and wide, and spiritual communities like Auroville — known for international living — have blossomed ...

History of Indian Parliament, Subhash C. Kashyap - 2008 - 1131 pages
tribunal for the adjudication of any dispute or doubt that might arise as to whether any asset, right or property formed part of, or was relatable to Auroville. As regards the objection raised by the mover of the resolution that the ...

Revealing the potential of Compressed Earth Blocks: a visual narration Omar Rabie, Massachusetts Institute of ... - 2008 - 130 pages
For one year in India, I learned and practiced the basics of this technology in Auroville Earth Institute, and then conducted a group of design and construction experimentations for a natural resort project.

Cross-cultural studies in curriculum: eastern thought, educational ... Claudia Eppert, Hongyu Wang - 2008 - 379 pages
After Sri Aurobindo died in 1950, The Mother succeeded him and started building an experimental international city called Auroville to realize his teaching. The experiment is still proceeding in Auroville, which has some schools for ...

Green growth at a glance: the way forward for Asia and the Pacific Aneta Nikolova, Marisha Wojciechowska-Shibuya ... - 2007 - 50 pages
The spiritual community of Auroville has the biggest concentration of altemative and appropriate energy systems in India, including solar, wind and biogas-generating systems. Of particular interest is the ...

Understanding thoughts of Sri Aurobindo, Indrani Sanyal, Krishna Roy, Jadavpur ... - 2007 - 317 pages

Vladimir Yatsenko is a Sanskrit teacher in Auroville since 1993, working at Savitri Bhavan. He graduated in Sanskrit and General Linguistics from St. Petersburg University in

Russia

and studied Sanskrit Grammar in Poona University ...

Daren Callahan - 2007 - 353 pages
Yoga: an annotated bibliography of works in English, 1981-2005 ... of the Auroville Foundation and has taught philosophy, psychology, and Indian culture. 791 . Sri Aurobindo and Integral Yoga. Delhi,

India

: Dharam Hinduja International Centre of Indie Research, 1998. 792 . ...

Symbols of the Eternal Doctrine: From Shamballa to Paradise - Page 141 Helen Valborg - 2007 - 364 pages
The great minaret of the mosque of Samarra in

Iraq

is a marvellous spiralling tower reaching towards heaven, and the town of Auroville in South India radiates out in a plan resembling a spiral nebula. The Ionic columns of classical ... [Linking the future: Findhorn, Auroville, Arcosanti Jerome Clayton Glenn, Auroville-The City the Earth Needs, Auroville: A Dream]

Indian literature in English: critical views - Page 43 Satish Barbuddhe - 2007 - 419 pages
His faith in the ultimate union of the world's peoples remains unshaken, for his ideals have been translated into action through the foundation of not only his Ashram but also Auroville, a symbol of human unity and world amity, ...

A survey of Hinduism - Page 420 Klaus K. Klostermaier - 2007 - 700 pages
His followers are not organized in an order, but their sense of mission is strong and active, as can be seen in the development of Auroville, a city, which tries to realize and put into practice the principles of ...

Sri Aurobindo and the logic of the infinite: essays for the new ... Rod Hemsell - 2006 - 199 pages Auroville: sun-word rising : a trust for the earth, Savitra - 1980 - 302 pages

Russia between East and West: scholarly debates on Eurasianism - Page 180 Dmitry Shlapentokh - 2007 - 198 pages
Auroville is a large religious city in

India

growing out of Sri Aurobindo's teaching. Henri Bergson is mentioned in this context because his theory of spiritual evolution and the concept of élan vital influenced many occultist movements ...

The after-death room: journey into spiritual activism - Page 91 Michael McColly - 2006 - 262 pages
I head inland to find a bed on solid ground in Auroville, a spiritual community just outside of Pondicherry. Auroville, “the city of dawn,” was founded by Sri Aurobindo, the revolutionary turned mystic poet and philosopher, ...

Towards ananda: rethinking Indian art and aesthetics, Shakti Maira - 2006 - 289 pages
In the south, in Auroville just outside Pondicherry, there is another large modern visionary temple — the Matri Mandir — that is almost complete. I was keen to have a darshan of this new consciousness- raising temple which represents ...

New religions in global perspective: a study of religious change ... - Page 246 Peter Bernard Clarke - 2006 - 385 pages
To emphasize its role as a model of the human community, Auroville has been placed in the 'ownership' of humanity as a whole and the only requirement placed on members is that they serve the 'Divine Consciousness'. ...

... Ghose (1872-1950) were also a catalyst for change, particularly in regard to the beginnings of the New Age Movement in South Asia where they led to the founding of the now international New Age community Auroville, near Pondicherry. ... [The Golden Path: Interviews with Disciples of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother from the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville Anie Nunnally]

The religious, the spiritual, and the secular: Auroville and ... - Page 112 Robert Neil Minor - 1999 - 208 pages
The Religious, the Spiritual, and the Secular presents an account of Auroville, a city in contemporary southeast India, and the vision of founder and well-known guru Sri Aurobindo.

Tradition and the rhetoric of right: popular political argument in ... - Page 100 David J. Lorenzo - 1999 - 339 pages
from their countries into a lotus-shaped urn, the Mother read the following guidelines for Auroville: 1. Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Aurovillebelongs to humanity as a whole. But to live in Auroville one must be the ...

Religion and public culture: encounters and identities in modern ... - Page 140 John Jeya Paul, Keith E. Yandell - 2000 - 260 pages
The interim injunction was removed on February 5, 1976, but the stay order against the Auroville Society ... By the end of 1975, the Society was withholding from the General Fund money which had been donated specifically for Auroville, ...

The theatre of the mind: evolution in the sensitive cosmos - Page 70 Henryk Skolimowski - 1984 - 167 pages

Sri Aurobindo and Auroville Among the 20th century intellectual and spiritual leaders of

India

, the three towering ones were Gandhi, Tagore, and Sri Aurobindo. Sri Aurobindo's view of evolution as perfecting itself through the human ...

Contemporary approaches to value education in India - Page 211, R. T. Nanda - 1997 - 344 pages
The Charter of Auroville was signed by children from 120 countries. Aurovilleaimed at searching for a new education in a new ... 2 The town itself was the University of Auroville, where a synthesis of nations, ideologies, knowledge, ...

Sustainable communities: the potential for eco-neighbourhoods - Page 282 Hugh Barton - 2000 - 305 pages
Description Today, Auroville is a growing community of 1300 people from all over the world, consisting of 80 ... Internationally acclaimed for its wasteland reclamation, Auroville has transformed near barren land into a lush green area. ...

Creative social research: rethinking theories and methods - Page 305 Ananta Kumar Giri - 2004 - 367 pages
The project is said to have been envisioned by The Mother, a spiritual leader associated with the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, a spiritual community in Pondicherry. In the words of The Mother, 'Auroville wants to be the bridge between the post ...

Social Roles Of The Gita - Page 180, Satya P. Agarwal - 1998 - 475 pages
A practical demonstration of how a community might follow Aurobindo's ideals can be seen in the Auroville experiment — a few miles from ... A four-point AurovilleCharter gives an idea of what this 'Cradle of a New World' stands for: 1. ...

The white woman's other burden: Western women and South Asia ... - Page 216 Kumari Jayawardena - 1995 - 310 pages
But her main interest was the creation of Auroville, a "city of dawn," which was to be a creative international experiment in living, "a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive ...

Mira to Mother - Page 150 Udhaya Kumar - 2004 - 164 pages
Money has no role to play in Auroville. Cars are banned. No administration with authority over the lives of the members is ... She even declared that as long asAuroville existed, no war would break out. Human tendencies of pugnacity, ...

The perennial quest for a psychology with a soul: an inquiry into ... - Page 525 Joseph Vrinte - 2002 - 568 pages
It is obvious that the ideas about the multi-faceted character of Auroville, as expressed by this author, do not represent ... Auroville, as a growing international township, attempts to find an answer to the global pressure for change. ...

Venter and the Adventure of Consciousness

2010-05-28T16:06:00.000+05:30

Cell to self and beyond Economic Times 28 May 2010

Mukul Sharma, ET Bureau

However, ancestry and descent — though important considerations — are not the main concern. Teleology is. How can something digitised out of artificially derived binary mathematical codes have a perception of some ultimate purpose or design — an end towards which its development continually strives, like most religions maintain all life forces do?

But, said Sri Aurobindo, the first life on Earth was also a single-celled organism fashioned out of ancient, inanimate chemical sludge. Its indwelling significance was cloaked at the outset by a dense material of inconscience into which the “obscure, mysterious creatrix” delivered its secret consciousness little by little in minute infinitesimal drops till it reached its climax and exceeded itself in Man who is now evolving into a superconscious being.

It lived, it knew, it saw its self sublime,/ Deathless, outmeasuring Space, outlasting Time, he wrote. Maybe it's true, who knows. But as people like Venter probably feel: it's worth a shot. [Karma, rebirth, and the problem of evil: an interjection in the debate between Whitley Kaufman and Monima Chadha and Nick Trakakis. An article from: Philosophy East and West, The Destiny Of The Body/The Vision and the Realisation in Sri Aurobindo's Yoga, Sri Aurobindo, or the Adventure of Consciousness, Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy Stephen Phillips]

remote viewers 1 Oct 2005 evergreenessays

mukul sharma. [et-sq; mon-140305]. although in the everyday world energy is always unalterably fixed (the law of energy conservation is a cornerstone of classical physics), in the quantum micro-world, energy can appear and disappear out ...

series of sorries: bruno, galileo, and darwin 20 Sep 2008 evergreenessays

sorrier than thou toi 20 sep 2008, mukul sharma. church officials, christian theologians and the

vatican

in particular have been doing a lot of apologising of late. it's for past errors and excesses committed in the name of religion and ... be ready to change quickly and enjoy it again 17 Dec 2005 evergreenessays

who moved my lasting perception? mukul sharma the economic times tuesday, december 13, 2005. in who stole my cheese? author dr spencer johnson tells us to keep the following things in mind: change happens (they keep moving the cheese); ...

Idea of a separate conscious self is false 29 Jun 2006 selforum

MUKUL SHARMA Economic Times FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2006. What happens when we consciously wish to do something? For instance, we might be sitting at a dining table that's set with a plate in front and a spoon on the side. ...

Instant graphic novel 29 Jul 2006 themusepaper

Touch of Genius Mukul Sharma The Times of

India

29 Jul, 2006. Can't wait to see your favourite novel made into a movie? Very soon you probably won't have to. You could simply scan and digitise the whole book and feed it into a computer ...

2nd Annual Mussoorie International Writers Festival 27 Oct 2008 themusepaper

Mukul Sharma, a Senior Editor with The Times of India, who's 'an agnostic teetering on atheism', spoke brilliantly on topics ranging from recreational mathematics and spirituality. In the last session on the first day, ... Emphasis on the mental and spiritual evolution of life on earth 29 Oct 2007 feelphilosophy

Survival of the fittest religion 30 Oct, 2007, 0040 hrs IST, Mukul Sharma, economictimes.indiatimes.com. In the west, religion's running battle with science is well known. In the beginning the natural sciences — astronomy in particular ...

The traditional religious model is also a top-down one 26 Feb 2007 seof

MUKUL SHARMA The Economic Times TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2007. What can one say about developing a religion where the ultimate organising principle is not one derived from divine inspiration but, instead, relies on the wisdom and ...

a conspiracy of silence 11 Nov 2006 by Tusar N Mohapatra savitriera

on years of tracking the columns of mukul sharma, the high priest of spiritual journalism in

india

, one does not recall if he has mentioned the mother and sri aurobindo ever. same is the case with others of his ilk, like narayani ganesh ...

Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) proposed a radical rethinking

2010-05-18T21:24:00.002+05:30

UTTARA YOGI ARUP MITRA - 2010 - 292 pages

In 1870, the spiritual leader of the Nagai Japat, makes a momentous prediction: the Uttara Yogi would settle down in South India.

A History of India - Page 281, Burton Stein, David Arnold - 2010 - 472 pages

were occasionally deployed by the revolutionary groups that began to be formed under leaders such as Aurobindo Ghosh. Attempts were made to assassinate high British officials, and armed robberies were committed to finance terrorist ...

Jesus Beyond Christianity: The Classic Texts - Page 287, Gregory A. Barker, Stephen E. Gregg - 2010 - 256 pages

Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, 1997, CD ROM Edition. (See pp. 75–6. ... And Sri Aurobindo. Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol: Vols. 33 & 34 Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo. ...

Dreamgates: Exploring the Worlds of Soul, Imagination, and Life ..., Robert Moss - 2010 - 416 pages

Using techniques for guided dreaming that he illustrates with fascinating stories of his and his students' own dreams, Robert Moss provides a complete training course for opening the dreamgates and embarking on the most rewarding of all ...

Living Beneath the Radar: A Nine-Year Journey Around the World - Page 120, Jeffrey R Crimmel - 2010 - 280 pages

Pondicherry was at one time a part of

France

. We were very interested in going to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram ... Sri Aurobindo was one of those famous spiritual leaders of India's past. He started the Ashram in 1926 with the help of a ...

The Rose and the Lotus: Partnership Studies in the Works of Raja Rao - Page li, Stefano Mercanti - 2010 - 278 pages

Sri Aurobindo, The Future Poetry and Letters on Poetry, Literature and Art (Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1972). As Ganesh Devy points out, “the essays were written when the First World War was just about coming to an end, ...

Frommer's India - Page 341, Pippa de Bruyn - 2010 - 768 pages

Today, those who share their vision of a better world come to pray and meditate aside the 8 memorial chambers (samadhis) of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, which lie in the center of the incredibly peaceful main courtyard. ...

A Concise Companion to Postcolonial Literature - Page 82, Shirley Chew, David Richards - 2010 - 256 pages

Approaching from another angle in The Foundations of Indian Culture, which consists of four essays published between 1918 and 1921, the Indian scholar, nationalist, and sage, Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950), proposed a radical rethinking of...

The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology - Page 830, Irving B. Weiner, W. Edward Craighead - 2010 - 528 pages

Forty years later, in 1986, Sen published a book in India by that title, Integral Psychology: The Psychological System of Sri Aurobindo. On a somewhat parallel track, another student of Aurobindo, Haridas Chaudhuri, further developed an ...

Prayer in the Cave of the Heart: The Universal Call to Contemplation, Cyprian Consiglio - 2010 - 136 pages

"In this text, the contemplative traditions of East and West intersect to invite readers into prayer that makes them "present to the Spirit who is already present to us."

Ein neues denken- ein neuer Mensch- eine neue Welt, Eckhart Tolle, Sri Aurobindo - 2010 - 207 pages
Le vrai tao Natarajan, - 2010 - 215 pages Consacré au yoga de Sri Aurobindo, l'auteur a le souvenir d'une vie antérieure
Eveil à l'esprit philosophique: Une approche actualisée des ... Yves Thélen - 2010 - 281 pages

Pluralism without Relativism Joseph C. McLellan...

Bal Gangadhar Tilak: His Writings and Speeches, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Babu Aurobindo Ghose - 2010 - 434 pages

Sri Chaitanyadev and Sri Gadadhar Rādhu Gosvāmī - 2010 - 203 pages
Articles on the life and work of Gadādhara, 1486-1533, Vaishnavite religious leader, scholar from Bengal, India, and close associate of Chaitanya, 1486-1534, founder of a sect in Vaishnavism in Bengal.

Sri Aurobindo: The Yogi of Divine Life, Aju Mukhopadhyay - 2010 - 116 pages

This is not a complete biography: It is a book telling about the spiritualism, philosophy and yoga of Sri Aurobindo.

Journal of the American Oriental Society American Oriental Society - 2010 - 388 pages
Ghose, A. The life divine [by] Sri Aurobindo. 1955. (Sri Aurobindo International University Centre collection, v. 3). Ghose, A. Thoughts and aphorisms [by] SriAurobindo. [1958]. Goell, T. Archaeological work at Nemrud Dagh, Turkey. ...

Transcendent in America: Hindu-Inspired Meditation Movements as ... - Page 229, Lola Williamson - 2010 - 272 pages

It is interesting to note that the HIMM associated with Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) and the Mother (1878–1973; a French woman who joined Sri Aurobindo and became a leader after his death) is as strong in term of numbers today as it was ...

Mental Plane: Hermeticism, Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, Sri Aurobindo ..., Frederic P. Miller, Agnes F. Vandome, John McBrewster - 2010 - 212 pages India del sud - Page 485 Sarina Singh - 2010 - 701 pages La Boutique d'Auroville Pondy Cre'Art Sri Aurobindo Handmade Paper Factory

The Birth of Savitr: A Poetic Composition Based on Sri Aurobindo's ..., R. Y. Deshpande - 2009 - 128 pages

This book contains 3 major sections. The first is a poetic rendering of the sense of each of the cantos in Sri Aurobindo's epic poem Savitri. The second is a resume of the story of Savitri as told in Sri Aurobindo's epic.

Altered Destinations: Self, Society, and Nation in India - Page 59, Makarand Paranjape - 2009 - 214 pages

The importance of Dharma in Indian life has been summed up extremely well by Sri Aurobindo in his famous Uttarpara ... When Aurobindo was in jail, he perceived that the Divine actually spoke to him, giving him the following message, ... Another Canon: Indian Texts and Traditions in English, Makarand Paranjape - 2009 - 293 pages

Spirituality and Business: Exploring Possibilities for a New ..., Sharda Shirley Nandram, Margot Esther Borden - 2009 - 263 pages

Spirituality is presented in this book as a possibility for providing a non-denominational inspiration and framework - both in theory and practice - for bringing about an inner transformation resulting in a new paradigm for business and ...

Ethics In Management And Indian Ethos, 2E Biswanath Ghosh – 2009

The Subject Of Ethics In Management Is Not Only New But Also Unique.

Terror and the Postcolonial: A Concise Companion - Page 205, Elleke Boehmer, Stephen Morton - 2009 - 395 pages

“. . . so admirably vague” Sedition Legislation in the Indian Penal Code In “The Doctrine of Passive Resistance,” the Cambridge graduate and radical Bengali nationalist Aurobindo Ghose criticized the sedition legislation in the Indian ...

Inspiration Divine: Your Purpose and Path to Health, Happiness and ... - Page 1, Darwin Stephenson - 2009 - 366 pages

Sri Aurobindo In your first breath, you opened up to the magnificent world around you. Through your eyes, the Mind received its first input from the outside world representing the three dimensions of length, width, and depth. ...

Eyes Wide Open: Cultivating Discernment on the Spiritual Path - Page 281, Mariana Caplan - 2009 - 289 pages

Bibliography aurobindo. sri Aurobindo on Himself. Pondicherry, India: Sriaurobindo ashram trust, 1972. aurobindo. ... Pondicherry, India: Sri Aurobindo ashram, 1977. aurobindo. The synthesis of yoga. twin Lakes, wI: Lotus Press, 1996. ...

Lonely Planet India - Page 1075, Sarina Singh, Lindsay Brown, Mark Elliott ... - 2009 - 1244 pages

Sri Aurobindo Ashram runs a lot of local budget accommodation. They're clean and you'll be around like-minded souls (ie the budget – and karma ... For information and reservations, contact the Sri Aurobindo information centre ...

Stones of the New Consciousness: Healing, Awakening and ... - Page 41, Robert Simmons - 2009 - 320 pages

Sri Aurobindo said that once the physical mind [body consciousness] is transformed, the transformation of the body will follow ... The Mother and Aurobindo, and their disciple Satprem, believed that the transformation of the body

Postcolonial Philosophy of Religion - Page 62, Purushottama Bilimoria, Andrew B. Irvine - 2009 - 350 pages

Of course, Sri Aurobindo tells us rather intriguingly that there is relation, even “a sort of broken identity between the two ... Thought and its movements for Sri Aurobindo are slow, methodical, while intuition is swift and sure, ...

Mad and Divine: Spirit and Psyche in the Modern World, Sudhir Kakar - 2009 - 192 pages

Sudhir Kakar, India’s foremost practitioner of psychoanalysis, has focused his career on infusing this preeminently Western discipline with ideas and views from the East.

Ninian Smart on world religions: selected works - Page liii, Ninian Smart, John J. Shepherd - 2009 - 344 pages

Finally there is the figure of Sri Aurobindo, who left behind his earlier strong political nationalism to develop a partly original spiritual vision - a Hindu worldview for the world. In 'Integral Knowledge and the Four Theories of ...

Spirituality and Psychiatry - Page 112, Chris Cook - 2009 - 300 pages

characterised by a profound ethic and expressed through universal love. Teilhard's Western evolutionary spirituality can be compared with that of Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950), a scholar, mystic, yogi and evolutionary ...

Deep Medicine: Harnessing the Source of Your Healing Power, William B. Stewart - 2009 - 184 pages

Written by a respected surgeon and holistic health pioneer, "Deep Medicine" shows readers how to tap into the mind's power to heal the body by building two essential skills: self-inquiry and finding quiet within.

Science, Mind and Paranormal Experience, Eric Lord - 2009 - 369 pages

Speculations about paranormal phenomena and how they might be reconciled with modern scientific knowledge.

Victorian vulgarity: taste in verbal and visual culture, Susan David Bernstein, Elsie Browning Michie - 2009 - 259 pages

Taken together, these essays urge readers to consider the implications of vulgarity's troubled history for today's writers, critics, and artists.

Briefe aus dem Ramanashram: Aus Leben und Lehre Ramana Maharshis - Page 39 Suri Nagamma - 2009 - 412 pages

Er hatte den Aurobindo Ashram besucht und brachte einen Brief von Dilip Kumar... 18 bengalischer Musiker und Sänger von religiösen Liedern, AnhängerAurobindo s 19 bengalischer Mystiker aus dem 15./16. ... [Ramana Maharshi: The Sage of Arunachala Arvind Sharma]

Permutations of Order: Religion and Law As Contested Sovereignties - Page 100, Thomas G. Kirsch, Bertram Turner - 2009 - 269 pages

The authority cited in this context was a brief text on Sri Aurobindo in the Encyclopaedia Britannica: The Encyclopaedia Britannica refers to Aurobindo again under the head idealism' and says: 'Aurobindo reinterpreting the Indian ...

Cosmic Connection: Messages for a Better World - Page 187, Carole Lynne - 2009 - 272 pages

These words of Sri Aurobindo give me permission to honor what I felt intuitively: spiritual experience is not always ... In this letter, Sri Aurobindo discusses the difficulty of testing spiritual experiences through scientific methods ...

The Supplicate Order: Invocation of the Sacred - Page 402, Patricia M. Brown, Ph.d. - 2009 - 504 pages

Shrikrishna Kashyap, Wisdom Wave Conversations (Santa Fe, NM, 2002). 37 David Bohm, interview in Omni magazine (1987). 38 Ervin Laszlo, Science and the Akashic Field (Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2004). 39 Shri Aurobindo, The ...

Yoga, karma, and rebirth: a brief history and philosophy, Stephen H. Phillips - 2009 - 358 pages

Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, 1973. . Hymns to the Mystic Fire. SriAurobindo Birth Centenary Library, vol. 11. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, 1973. . The Life Divine. Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library, vols. ...

The God-Touch And Other Lights From Sri Aurobindo'S Savitri Edited By A. S. Dalal - 2009 - 139 pages Aju Mukhopadhyay's poems on Sri Aurobindo and The Mother Aju Mukhopadhyay - 2009 - 48 pages

Maharshi Arvind Meena Manishika - 2009 - 23 pages

Biography of Sri Aurobindo, 1872-1950, Indian philosopher and nationalist; for juvenile.

Science, Spirituality and the Modernization of India - Page 164, Makarand Paranjape - 2009 - 296 pages

Illumined mind • Intuitive mind • Overmind: This is described as a corridor (Aurobindo, 1949) that is a royal road to ... Sri Aurobindo was the first modern rishi to expound the existence of the supramental that modern science is now ...

Swaraj - Thoughts of Gandhi, Tilak, Aurobindo, Raja Rammohun Roy, ..., Amulya Ranjan Mohapatra - 2009 - 102 pages

Hinduism in Public and Private: Reform, Hindutva, Gender, and ..., Antony Copley - 2009 - 303 pages

The essays critically analyse the influence of key personalities--Vivekananda,Aurobindo, and Dayanand Saraswati--on the emergence of ideas that later came to be known as Hindutva. This book will interest students, scholars, ...

Globalizing Dissent: Essays on Arundhati Roy - Page 154, Ranjan Ghosh, Antonia Navarro Tejero - 2008 - 214 pages

However, Sri Aurobindo, Gandhi's contemporary, recognized that such a movement of what Gandhi called ... Sri Aurobindo was skeptical of the idea that such suffering purified or transformed the pacifist agitator or had lasting influence ...

The strides of Vishnu: Hindu culture in historical perspective - Page 211, Ariel Glucklich - 2008 - 241 pages

In his writings, Aurobindo explicitly identified himself with the principle ...Sometimes Aurobindo called her Shakti, at other times Maya. Aurobindo was not a philosopher like Shankara or ...

The Other Side of Terror: An Anthology of Writings on Terrorism in ..., Nivedita Majumdar - 2008 - 368 pages

... Early Political Writings Aurobindo Ghose Sir Edward's Menace The final indiscretion of Sir Edward Baker was also the worst. We do not think we have ever heard before of an official in Sir Edward's responsible position uttering such ...

The Invisible Path: From Violence and Sex to Superconsciousness, Deep Inder - 2008 - 196 pages

"The work enjoys great variety of background with a strong storyline, and illustrates vividly the good and bad aspects of social conditions in contemporary India.

The participatory turn: spirituality, mysticism, religious studies - Page 293, Jorge N. Ferrer, Jorge Noguera Ferrer, Jacob H ... - 2008 - 388 pages

Mohandas K. Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo, and Rudolf ... and the Gita's historical setting, as well as attending to the important synchronic differences in the ways that Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo, and Steiner each participatively engage the Gita. ...

The Evolution of Integral Yoga, Kundan Singh - 2008 - 280 pages

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother are regarded as the architects of Integral Yoga or ...It also explores the historical connection between Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, and Sri Aurobindo, and critically examines the teachings of Sri ...

The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo - 2009 - 1130 pages

Contents: Book One: Omnipresent Reality and the Universe; Book Two: The Knowledge and the Ignorance - The Spiritual Evolution: Part 1 The Infinite Consciousness and the Ignorance Part 2 The Knowledge and the Spiritual Evolution

Explorations towards a New Creation of the Society

2010-04-26T19:43:00.000+05:30

The Awakening Ray

The Gnostic Centre brings out a journal focused on self-development, called 'The Awakening Ray' (since 1997). Each issue focuses on a new theme relevant for application of Integral Yoga concepts in one's daily life and work.

Current Issue : Vedas: a promise for the future (online)

Editorial : Ameeta Mehra
The Awakening Ray : Sri Aurobindo
Unveiling the Veda: Sri Aurobindo
The Three Creations : Vladimir Yatsenko
Night and Dawn : Vladimir Yatsenko
Lost Herds of Light & Angirasa Rishis : Sri Aurobindo
The Promise of the Vedic Age: The Mother
An Introduction to the Vedas : Nolini Kanta Gupta

Recent Events WORKSHOPS

29th January EDUCOMP

Facilitated by Ameeta Mehra and Vladimir Yatsenko

6th December GARDENING FOR BEAUTY & THERAPY

Facilitated by Mr. Satish Mathur

21st November LEADING THE CHANGE

Facilitated by Anuradha & Roohi Kapur

14th November EVOKING YOUR CHILD'S TRUE POTENTIAL

Facilitated by Anuradha & Roohi Kapur

7th November AIM OF LIFE

Facilitated by Ameeta Mehra

25th October HARNESSING THE POWER OF NATURE

Facilitated by Mr. Satish Mathur

24th October THE WILL TO LEARN

Facilitated by Anuradha & Roohi Kapur

20th September THE GREEN EDGE

Facilitated by Satish Mathur

13th September NURTURING YOUR CHILD'S NEEDS

Facilitated by Anuradha & Roohi Kapur

PROGRAMMES & COURSES

08th February onwards

THE UPANISHADS IN THE LIGHT OF SRI AUROBINDO

Online PG Certificate programme (16 credits, 6 months) by ICIS:

Course 1: Isha & Kena Upanishads
Course 2: Aitareya & Taittiriya Upanishads
Course 3: Research Practicum in the Upanishads
accredited by IGNOU; facilitator: Vladimir Yatsenko

(This course is 6 credits, 2 months)

08th February onwards

AN INTRODUCTION TO INTEGRAL STUDIES: KEY PERSPECTIVES

FROM THE WORKS OF SRI AUROBINDO & THE MOTHER

Online Pre-requisite Course (4 credits, 2 months) by ICIS:

online, accredited by IGNOU; facilitator: Monica Gupta

(This course is a part of the PG Certificate programme for those without a prior background in Integral Studies)

TALKS 21-26 January

HYMNS TO SURYA-SAVITRI

by Vladimir Yatsenko

17 January MEDICINAL USES OF TREES & PLANTS - NEEM, PEEPUL & BANYAN

by Dr. Shashibala

20-24 December KENA UPANISHAD

by Prof. Chandrasekhar Rath

12 December MEDICINAL USES OF TREES & PLANTS - GOOLAR, AMLA, HABISCUS & HARSRINGAR

by Dr. Shashibala

8th August OUR TIMES & SRI AUROBINDO'S VISION

by Prof. Manoj Das

CLASSES & STUDY CIRCLES

'Explorations towards a New Creation of the Society (Wednesdays 6.00-7.00pm) by Ameeta Mehra' study circles are being held every Wednesday, 6.00pm to 7.00pm) (facilitator: Ameeta Mehra)

'Savitri: A Legend & a Symbol' study circles are being held every Saturday, 9.00am to 10.00am) (facilitator: Ameeta Mehra)

FITNESS CLASSES

7th February FOLK & STREET GAMES OF

INDIA

5-10 YEARS OLD by Durjee

24th January FOLK & STREET GAMES OF

INDIA

5-10 YEARS OLD by Durjee

20th December ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES FOR 5-10 YEARS OLD by Durjee

6th December ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES FOR 5-10 YEARS OLD by Durjee

SPECIAL EVENTS

28th March GNOSTIC CENTRE ANNIVERSARY

Short film on 'new perspectives in higher education', display of ICIS online courses fallowed by Meditation

21st February THE MOTHER'S BIRTHDAY: Darshan day Meditation

5th December SRI AUROBINDO'S MAHASAMADHI DAY Meditation

17th November Mother's Mahasamadi Day Meditation

15th August SRI AUROBINDO'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS 'Savitri' reading & Special Meditation

Human body tends to adjust to an addiction

2010-04-12T19:44:00.000+05:30

August 21, 2007 By Mad Max (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

(VINE VOICE) This review is from: When Religion Is an Addiction (Paperback)

In this book, the author quotes a variety of experts & demonstrates that brain physiology, social function, etc., of some religious activities can parallel other addictions such as drugs and alcohol. This is the "high" of self-righteousness.

If you're unfamiliar with this concept (called "process" addictions), you might want to take a look at some of his sources. The most accessable readings include: When Society Becomes an Addict, The Addictive Organization: Why We Overwork, Cover Up, Pick Up the Pieces, Please the Boss, and Perpetuate S, Escape from Intimacy: Untangling the ``Love'' Addictions: Sex, Romance, Relationships, & Incest and Sexual Addiction. Permalink

April 10, 2008 By J. Craddock (Burnsville, MN

USA

) - See all my reviews This review is from: When Religion Is an Addiction (Paperback)

He also points out how some Christian beliefs may be contributing to that fanaticism. Christianity teaches that even though humans are created in "God's perfect image," we are still broken, depraved and flawed beyond any capacity to change anything ourselves. In other words, while taking personal responsibility is considered to be a virtue, Christianity teaches we have absolutely no "human" ability to repair ourselves. We can't feel valuable unless God loves us. […]

After all, God tells us we are living under a death sentence and deserve unimaginable abusive punishment for an unimaginable time period if we don't believe and perform correctly. In the end all this very conditional love, that is fed as the "good news," generates the very shame that often leads to addictive behaviors. It takes a lot of energy to constantly run from a brutal and vengeful God, who can never be appeased, and from the hated incessant devil that never gives up.

Since the human body tends to adjust to an addiction, it eventually requires an ever larger dose. Just like the consumption ritual of alcohol, the religious fanatical rules, rituals and prayers also only work temporarily, so they must be repeated again and again - first weekly, then daily, then hourly, then more potent, and harsher, and more rigid, which must also be imposed onto or adopted by others. Permalink

Maltz's patients often had expectations that were not satisfied by plastic surgery

2010-03-10T14:14:00.001+05:30

Maltz found that his plastic surgery patients often had expectations that were not satisfied by the surgery, so he pursued a means of helping them set the goal of a positive outcome through visualization of that positive outcome.^[3] Maltz became interested in why setting goals works. He learned that the power of self-affirmation and mental visualisation techniques used the connection between the mind and the body. He specified techniques to develop a positive inner goal as a means of developing a positive outer goal. This concentration on inner attitudes is essential to his approach, as a person's outer success can never rise above the one visualized internally.^[1]

Psycho-Cybernetics [Wikipedia] is a classic self-help book, written by Maxwell Maltz in 1960 and published by the non-profitPsycho-Cybernetics Foundation.^[1] Motivational and self-help experts in personal development, including Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy have based their techniques on Maxwell Maltz. Many of the psychological methods of training eliteathletes are based on the concepts in Psycho-Cybernetics as well.^[2] The book combines the cognitive behavioral technique of teaching an individual how to regulate self-concept developed by Prescott Lecky with the cybernetics ofNorbert Wiener and John von Neumann. The book defines the mind-body connection as the core in succeeding in attaining personal goals.^[3]

Maxwell Maltz (March 10, 1899^[1] – April 7, 1975^[2]) was an American cosmetic surgeon and author who developed Psycho-Cybernetics, a system of ideas through which, he claimed, one could improve one's self-image and, in turn, lead a more successful and fulfilling life.^[3] He wrote several books, among which Psycho-Cybernetics (1960) was a long-time bestseller that influenced many subsequent self-help teachers.^[4][5][6] His orientation toward a system of ideas that will provide self help is considered the forerunner of the many self help books that have now become so popular.^[7]

Maltz graduated with a doctorate in medicine from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1923.^[2]

Psycho-Cybernetics: A New Way to Get More Living out of Life was first published in 1960 by Prentice-Hall and first appeared in a pocket book edition in 1969. The book introduced Maltz's view that a person must have an accurate and positive view of one's self before setting goals, otherwise he or she will get stuck in a continuing pattern of limiting beliefs. His ideas focus on visualizing one's goals. He believed that self-image is the cornerstone of all the changes that take place in a person. If one's self-image is unhealthy, or faulty, all of his or her efforts will end in failure.^[3]

Maltz also wrote fiction, including a play called Unseen Scar (1946)^[8] and a novel, The Time is Now (1975)^[9]. His autobiography, Doctor Pygmalion: The Autobiography of a Plastic Surgeon (1953)^[10], was popular and influential,^[11] being discussed in many subsequent books on body and identity.^[12] It was re-titled Doctor Psycho-Cybernetics after his self-help work was published.

Although the book Psycho-Cybernetics was first published in 1960, as of 2008 the book is one of 50 recommended in the book “50 Self-Help Classics".^[13]

Part and parcel of this flesh and blood living such a life upon earth

2010-03-04T12:45:00.000+05:30

Editorial from Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore

Sadhana refers to ‘spiritual practice or discipline; the practice of yoga.’ (from The Sunlit Path - Aspects of Sadhana, Sri Aurobindo Ashran Trust, 1984). The master lays down one condition in order to be placed on this Sunlit Path, and that too a condition that is dependant upon one’s will, which brings us to The Mother’s insistence that the choice is our own. That condition is ‘surrender’. The master writes (in A Practical Guide to Integral Yoga, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, 1955):

“The sunlit path can be followed by those who are able to practise surrender, first a central surrender and afterwards a more complete self-giving in all parts of the being. If they can rely wholly on the Divine and accept cheerfully whatever comes to them from the Divine, then their path becomes sunlit and may even be straightforward and easy.”

At the final analysis, life stares back at us with her well-defined beautiful eyes, crystal clear and calm. Are we making of this life what someone else would want of it? Is the conditioning that one has been through since time immemorial too cumbersome even to think about? Do we leave that to slip to the background and yet would have that very conditioning form the backbone of all our thoughts and acts and tendencies, not to mention the choices we make in life? It could just be timely to review what sadhana means to one, in one’s own life.

Auromira Yoga: ANGER By Dr. Ramesh Bijlani

All anger essentially reflects a victim mentality. The person perceives himself as weak, and feels victimized due to his weakness. The person may feel weak because he does not have the means to satisfy his desires. He may feel weak because he cannot change or control other people. Or, he may feel he is the victim of all those who are keeping away from him. The perceived weakness may lead to depression. But sometime or the other, sooner or later, the dam bursts, and instead of being just depressed, the person gets angry. Thus anger and depression are two sides of the same coin. Statistically speaking, women get depressed in response to perceived victimization whereas men get angry. In short, anger is a sign of weakness. The angry person sometimes feels he is stronger than the person whom he can get angry at. In fact, he can get angry because nobody can stop a person from being angry, not because anybody has given him the right or the permission to be angry. It is the angry person who sub-consciously perceives himself as weak, and therefore victimized, and sometimes gives vent to his pent up feelings through anger. The sense of being stronger through anger is a temporary self-created illusion.

The dictum, prevention is better than cure applies to anger as well. When you feel the anger rising, it may be helpful to do a few things to prevent it before you lose control completely. Start with a few slow and deep breaths. While breathing out, count backwards from ten to one, slowly. Another technique is to tighten your whole body for a minute, and then let go: let the body relax completely like a punctured balloon. Start meditating, if you know how to. Listen to soothing music, or still better, play on a musical instrument, if that is one of your hobbies. Take a brisk walk, if a safe place is available to you; otherwise, just pace up and down in the house. However, do not get into the car to let your tension out: an angry driver is neither himself safe, nor does he leave others on the road in peace. If at all it is possible to stay away from the victim of your anger, do so. Coming face to face is sure to result in an outburst. If you succeed in delaying and diverting the anger by some of these measures, you may provide a safe expression to your anger later in the day by writing a diary, or confiding in someone who is close to you. You may even write a letter to the person with whom you are angry, but do not send it!

Giving safe expression to anger is not just an outlet; it also helps analyze the situation. By the end of the expressive exercise, you may realize that your opponent does have a point after all, or you may discover a more reasonable way of resolving the conflict. While these measures may prevent a sudden outburst, they may still leave behind pent up anger. Nevertheless, they are helpful in buying time, allowing thinking and introspection, and in avoiding irreversible damage to relationships. If the person getting angry is a parent, his losing control also sets a bad example for the children. VIEW MY COMPLETE PROFILE

from Bijay Sahoo bksahoo19@rediffmail.com

Youth is a period during life time when one is young and specifically a period between childhood and adulthood. A period characterised by many growth and development of a person before entering into public life.The terms "youth", "adolescent", "teenager", and "young person" can be used interchangeably but often differentiated keeping in mind the context.
But while defining “Youth” there is nothing to do with the age but with a particular mindset of attitude. It is not a time of life but a state of mind. The term youth relates to being young.

Display of a strong temper of the will, high quality of imagination, vigour, predominance of courage over timidity and an appetite for adventure are some of the key characteristics of “Youth” and is seen and maximum during a specific period of the life. Persons passing through that period for my opinion should be called as youth.