Authors Archives - Page 11 of 17

India’s Rebirth

This book presents Sri Aurobindo’s vision of India as it grew from his return from England in 1893 to his political days in the first decade of the century and finally to his forty-year-long withdrawal from public view during which he plunged into his ‘real work’ of evolutionary action.

This brief chronological selection from all that Sri Aurobindo said or wrote on India, her soul and her destiny, is by no means integral, but we trust it offers a sufficiently wide view of the lines of development Sri Aurobindo wished India to follow if she was to overcome the deep-rooted obstacles standing in the way of her rebirth.

A few notes have been added to help put the excerpts into historical perspective, and a Chronology, list of References and Index have been provided at the end of the book. Read more

Aphorisms

In the aphorisms that make up this book, Sri Aurobindo gives pithy and pregnant expression to some of the key ideas of his philosophy and yoga.

Thoughts and Aphorisms was written around 1913. Ten aphorisms from the manuscript were published in the monthly review Arya in 1915 and 1916 as parts of what was later issued as Thoughts and Glimpses. But the bulk of the aphorisms — that is, those included in the Karma, Jnana and Bhakti sections of the present booklet — were never published during Sri Aurobindo’s lifetime. They first appeared in book form in 1958.

The seven “Additional Aphorisms” were first included in the edition of 1977; the last five were written in a separate manuscript notebook, apparently somewhat later than the others.

The Hour of God

“The pieces collected together in this book were written by Sri Aurobindo between 1910 and 1940. None of them were published during his lifetime; none received the final revision he gave to his major works. Most of the pieces were first printed in various journals published by the Ashram, and subsequently in the different editions of The Hour of God, beginning with the first edition (1959).”

In reading these essays, one gets the very distinct feeling that the author really does know whereof he speaks. Here, we are able to sit in his lap and listen as he fabricates one description after another of the ineffable and explains how we too can share in the realization awaiting us at the end of what seems, in the clarity of his vision, to be not such an arduous path. It is not that he ever says that the way is easy, quite the contrary; but the certainty with which he speaks seems to put it into reach.

The Master as I Saw Him

The Master As I Saw Him

This is an intimate look at the life and times of Swami Vivekananda through the eyes of the devout disciple named by him as Sister Nivedita. Born in Ireland, 1867, Margaret Elizabeth Noble became enamored of Vivekananda’s teachings when she heard him speak in London in 1895. She characterized her encounter with Vivekananda as providential; he being the deliverer of the call to service she had been waiting for. So, in 1898, she found herself in India, ready and willing to fulfill her life’s purpose. Three-months after arriving in India, she became the first Western woman to be received into an Indian monastic order. Soon, she opened a school for girls and spent the remainder of her life in service to India, teaching, caring for the ill and promoting Indian independence. But, of course, this book is not about her rather, it is about the man who inspired her, Vivekananda. In this portrait, you will find a God-driven man who gave his all for God and country, dedicating himself to the resurrection of India to her rightful glory. As a little bonus, we have added two appendices containing a few of Sri Aurobindo’s own words on Sister Nivedita, Ramakrishna and Vivekananda.

The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life

One-hundred years after its first publication, we resurrect here a scholarly tome written by one of the foremost fathers of sociology, Émile Durkheim. Much of Durkheim’s work was concerned with how societies could maintain their integrity and coherence in modernity; an era in which traditional social and religious ties are no longer assumed, and in which new social institutions have come into being. The “modernity” of one-hundred years ago seems quaint to us today but the questions Émile sought to explore and answer then are perhaps even more urgent today. In The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, Durkheim lays bare the roots of human religiosity through an in-depth examination of the most primitive forms of religion then known on the very edges of an ever-encroaching “modernity”. Through this look at “primitive” man, perhaps we can find a deeper understanding of our own soul, what its needs are, and what drives it.

Vedic Addition

Vedic Addition by Vikram Devatha

Vedic Mathematics is a system of mathematics that allows problems to be solved quickly and efficiently. It is based on the work of Sri Bharathi Krishna Thirthaji Maharaja (1884 – 1964), who devised the system from a close study of the Vedas. It is based on 16 sutras (aphorisms) that provide a principle or a rule of working to solve a problem.

This series of books is an attempt to present the material in a modular fashion. Each book focuses on one arithmetic operation – addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. These books can be read in any order, but it is recommended that addition and subtraction be read before multiplication and division. This particular book is related to addition only, and subsequent books will cover the other arithmetic operations.

The book features screencasts that explain each technique, visuals and interactive exercises.

Stars in the Soup

Stars in the Soup and other poems

A delightful selection of poems created by a long time resident of Auroville, Shraddhavan. Written in an open, free-flowing style, Shraddhavan embraces the world around her, particularly the natural world, as it whispers to her the story of her own evolving spirituality. If we listen quietly, she whispers to us as well.

l’Agenda de Mère (Tout le texte français)

l’Agenda de Mère

Recueilli par Satprem, un disciple de Mère, au cours de nombreuses conversations personnelles avec elle, l’Agenda de Mère est le journal de bord complet de son exploration de la conscience cellulaire dans le corps humain. Il couvre 23 années des expériences de Mère qui sont parallèles à certaines des théories les plus récentes de la physique moderne, et sont peut-être la clé du passage de l’humanité vers l’espèce suivante.

La Filosofia dell’Evoluzione (Italian)

La Filosofia dell’Evoluzione

Come presentata qui, La Filosofia dell’Evoluzione è un compendio di lezioni presentate da Rod Hemsell presso l’Università dell’Unità Umana ad Auroville nel 2008, 2009, 2012 e 2013. La spinta principale nello yoga di Sri Aurobindo è sempre stata verso una partecipazione attiva all’evoluzione umana e questo è il concetto che ha fissato e definito fin dall’inizio la differenza dello yoga di Sri Aurobindo e della Madre da tutti gli altri. Con la sua vasta conoscenza della filosofia e del pensiero di numerosi filosofi, e la sua familiarità con la scienza attuale, Rod è in grado di guidare il lettore attraverso lo sviluppo del pensiero in queste discipline e ci mostra il luogo che Sri Aurobindo, precursore illuminato, ci ha indicato come prossimo obiettivo. Queste lezioni non sono una salita difficile o noiosa verso altezze rarefatte, piuttosto, sono esplorazioni istruttive dei campi base più ampi che circondano il monte; è lasciato a Sri Aurobindo ed alla Madre la guida alla nostra ascesa. Tuttavia, con questa esplorazione della terra ferma, diventiamo sempre più sicuri che le nostre Guide verso le cime innevate in realtà sanno di che cosa parlano. Questa versione in lingua italiana riprende, su indicazione dell’autore, i capitoli più indicativi della versione originale inglese, che permettano comunque al lettore di seguire un filo conduttore lineare e chiaro del percorso di pensiero seguito da Rod Hemsell nelle sue letture.

Savitri – The Golden Bridge, the Wonderful Fire

Almost all of the essays collected in this volume were written for and first published as monthly instalments in Next Future, the e-journal of the Sri Aurobindo Society Pondicherry. The 47 instalments ended with the passing of Dr. Nadkarni in September 2007, and cover Savitri Book by Book, Canto by Canto, from the beginning up to the climactic point in the middle of Book Eleven, where Savitri is offered four boons of merger with the Supreme, and asks instead for the Supreme Peace, Oneness, Energy and Bliss ‘for Earth and Men’. Dr. Nadkarni has written other essays on Savitri as well as giving many other talks, but this collection represents a masterly ‘Introduction’ (as he modestly called it) to the revelatory poem which he loved so much and understood so well. It has been compiled and published at the request of his family, and we feel sure that it will be welcomed by Savitri readers and students all over the world, and to a certain extent make up for the great loss that his many admirers experienced when he passed away in September 2007 at the age of 74.