Revisioning Environmental Ethics - Page 75 - Daniel
A. Kealey - 1990 - 136 pages - Preview Since Aurobindo was very reticent in
acknowledging his Western sources, we can only say with confidence that he drew
on Neoplatonism, Hegelianism (via the Romantic poets), and Bergson. From the
latter two Aurobindo was inspired to ...
Knowledge,
Consciousness and Religious Conversion in Lonergan and ... - Page 43 - Michael
T. McLaughlin - 2003 - 318 pages - Preview Since Aurobindo often uses relativist
arguments, playing knowledge of the part off against knowledge of the whole;
the discrete off against the continuum, and uses other kinds of arguments from
internal relations, as does Bergson, ... The neo-Hegelianism of F.H. Bradley, whose work had
some influence on Sri Auropbindo, would seem to be …
Theoria to theory: Volumes 9-10 - Epiphany
Philosophers - 1975 - Since Aurobindo has none of
Nietszche's hysterical arrogance, and is careful to emphasize the necessity of
the crucifixion of the ego in all self-development, I must say that it is
Benz's puzzlement which puzzles me. Chardin could not publish ...
Aurobindo's philosophy of Brahman - Page 162 - Stephen
H. Phillips - 1986 - 200 pages - Preview And if it is true, then it follows that the
question of the veridicality of Aurobindo's experiences determines the most
significant part of their worth — since Aurobindo's advocacy of a
mystic pursuit presupposes their inestimable worth ...
Hartshorne, Process Philosophy, and Theology - Page 125 - Robert
Kane, Stephen H. Phillips - 1989 - 198 pages - Preview And since Aurobindo's project is to
provide a comprehensive explanation of the way things are (at least on my
reading), what point could there be to presuming God aware of a power of
creation without necessarily creating something or ...
Tradition
and the Rhetoric of Right: Popular Political Argument in ... - Page 178 - David
J. Lorenzo - 1999 - 339 pages - Preview Since Aurobindo had asserted that his yoga was
not about living remote from the world in a "Himalayan retreat," and
that his yogic insights should be treated contextually, not literally, one is
hard put to decide whether Satprem's mode ...
The
Religious, the Spiritual, and the Secular: Auroville and ... - Page 116 - Robert
Neil Minor - 1999 - 208 pages - Preview Finally, they argued that since Aurobindo claimed
insights from meditation, his teachings cannot be religious. Because scientists
using scientific methods have been able to study meditation's effects on the
body, meditation must be a ...
Sri Aurobindo, the perfect and the good - Robert
Neil Minor - 1978 - 191 pages - Since Aurobindo's goal is
not to escape from the phenomenal world about us, the concentration of integral
yoga must realize the Divine in the world as well as beyond it.207 The world is
to be affirmed by such concentration, not denied; ...
Jīvanmukti
in Transformation: Embodied Liberation in Advaita and ... - Page 150 - Andrew
O. Fort - 1998 - 251 pages - Preview Since Aurobindo holds that existence, from
grossest Matter to highest Spirit, is an integral unity, the deluded
individuated self (jiva) is real and can evolve back to its Spirit-ual basis
(Supermind). Put another way, for Aurobindo ...
The philosophy of Sri Aurobindo: his idea of evolution
- Joseph
Veliyathil, Joseph
Veliyathil - 1972 - 97 pages - Since Aurobindo does not
admit creation out of nothing and the substantial difference between the
Creator and the created universe, he is forced to conclude that the end of all
the evolutionary process, is the fulL manifestation of the ...
The
Ideological Integration of East and West: An Enquiry ... - Page 123 - Moazziz
Ali Beg - 2005 - 240 pages - Preview Since Aurobindo teaches us that person is
capable of inner evolution which is self- transcendence, "Human society
progresses really and vitally in proportion as law becomes the child of
freedom; it will reach its perfection when, ...
The Radical humanist: Volume 47 - Indian
Renaissance Institute - 1983 - Since Aurobindo believed in
spiritualising the existing institutions of man, he has not shown much interest
in recreating them or creaing new ones. He reiterated that man is not a machine
in his constitution and functioning and as such ...
Sri Aurobindo, Indian poet, philosopher and mystic - George
Harry Langley, George
Harry Langley - 1949 - 134 pages - This is especially important, since
Aurobindo is himself a poet, gifted with great insight and creative power,
and his characteristic approach to speculative problems is influenced by this
fact. The creative aesthetic experience of the ...
The
religious roots of Indian nationalism: Aurobindo's early ... - David
L. Johnson - 1974 - 128 pages - The problcm'still remains, since
Aurobindo's assertion just begs the question, how does the One become Many
? That is, how can there be diversification* of one into many at the same time
as the reality and the unity of both ...
The Political Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo - Page 61
- V.
P. Varma - 1990 - 494 pages - Preview Since Aurobindo accepts the reality of
supra-physical beings1 he accepts that the Vedic and the Zoroastrian references
to the forces of darkness do not relate to symbols but refer to concrete beings
whose existence can be verified in ...
Journal of ecumenical studies: Volume 14 - Council
on the Study of Religion - 1977 - Since Aurobindo's writings
on yoga grow out of his study of the religio-political context of the
Mahabharata, there is room for further analysis of his continued involvement
with political liberation. The chapter on spiritual liberation ...
Indian critiques of Gandhi - Harold
G. Coward - 2003 - 287 pages - But since Aurobindo claimed
to see the whole picture, the part could not be privileged over the whole in
the quest for independence. Violence, or nonviolence for that matter, could
have only strategic value.7 Savarkar, for his part, ...
The Journal of the Bihar Research Society: Volume 42 - Bihar
Research Society - 1956 - But since Aurobindo's theory
of the Godsent leader is vitally influenced by the concept of the Instrument
(Nimittamatram) as found in the Gita, hence there is a cardinal difference in
his notion of the transcendence of morality and that ...
A Primer on Advaita Vedanta, or Non-Dualist Hinduism: Or, Why
Atman is Brahman, And Why We Should Care from Networkologies by chris
What’s also worth noting is the strong similarities
between both of these schools and certain developments in contemporary
philosophy, such as the immanentism of Deleuze, or my own networkological
thought. These issues will be discussed at another time… A This Worldly
Vedantaism
There are many reasons why such an approach, in
either it’s Buddhist or Vedantist flavors, has much to offer us today. While
Buddhism clearly favors metaphors of emptiness and extinction of craving, and
Vedantaism favors metaphors of plenitude and fullness, they ultimately aim
towards identifying with the non-dual, the non-limited, that which is beyond
spacetime, beyond craving, the ego, that which is the principle of the all
beyond limitations. There are many parallels here with various strains of Sufi
thought, as well as Hellenist Neoplatonism, both of which may have been
influenced by the more ancient Indic tradition, even as it modified itself in
relation to various influences as well.
There are, however, some legitimate potential
objections to such an approach to the world. Firstly, what if this is all made
up? That is, just as we might say that the Big Bang is the most real, we could
also say that it is the least real thing there is. None of us have ever seen
the Big Bang. It’s the furthest thing from our everyday lives. Might this not
be living for a fiction? Building upon this notion, Nietzsche argued that many
traditional philosophies and religions are “life-hating,” because they value a
world we never see over the world we do, this world, and as such, are examples
of “otherwordly-isms.” Is Vedanta life-hating and otherworldly?
On the one hand, perhaps it is. Certainly
followers of Hinduism and Buddhism often remove themselves from the world and
its pleasures. Many are celibate. They seem to live “in the clouds.” But
perhaps this is just a historical relic. Maybe it might be possible to imagine
a “this worldly” Vedantism or Buddhism. For in a sense, it does seem that the
world has two poles of “most-real-ness,” namely, from one end, the Big Bang,
but from the other end, each and every one of its concrete aspects in
experience. Might it not make sense to play both angles, both sides at once?
If Brahman is the most free, the principle of
everything, then perhaps true liberation isn’t merely to identify with this,
which would certainly give freedom from the cravings of this world. But perhaps
it also means to extend this freedom to all maya, all the illusions. Perhaps
this is compassion beyond that to mere persons, but to all matter. Maybe we
need to make the world more Brahman, and bring liberation not only to our
minds, but all the world of experience. A this worldly Vedantaism, which aims
to liberate not only experience, but even matter from its limitations. An
activist Vedantism.
As I’ve come to realize, as I continue working on my
own work on developing a networkological, relational approach to philosophy,
while learning increasingly about non-western philosophies, is that a
this-worldly, activist version of what Buddhism, Sufism, Vedanta, and
Neoplatonism propose is precisely what the networkological project aims at.
One could make the argument that this is already
latent in Vedanta. But there is without doubt an individualistic focus in
Hinduism and Buddhism, despite the fact that both are ultimately about
dissolving the ego. That said, change happens inside, not outside. Then again,
it does seem that the only reason why Brahman would have for giving rise to the
world of maya would be precisely to lead it to liberation from its limitations,
and the work of Sri Aurobindo, a Neo-Vedantist, works to integrate Vedantism
with an evolutionary approach to the world.
The Mahayana Buddhist spin on these issues, seems to
emphasize precisely the fact that the advent of the Buddha is precisely this
saving compassion for all manifesting in the world. Sufism takes this further,
and sees this as in fact the very purpose of creation as such, which is to say,
the lifting of the veils, which transforms the individual, annihilating them as
they merge with the limitless freedom and power of God. While these are clearly
different traditions, the similarities between their notions of liberation are
striking. Hindu forms of this, including Vedanta, deemphasize the collective
and compassionate, even though this is latent within it, while Mahayana
Buddhism and Sufism emphasize this more collective end of things, and this can
be seen materially as well. Buddhism makes the alleviation of suffering it’s
primary emphasis, and gives rise to monasteries for monks, while Sufism
emphasizes the love of God for creation, and gives rise to massive lodges and
orders. Vedanta emphasizes lifting the veil of ignorance over alleviation of
suffering, and doesn’t give rise to more organized collectives to the extent of
Buddhism or Sufism. While compassion and collective action in the world are
implicit in some ways, they are less emphasized. That said, a Vedantic critique
of this might be that these approaches emphasize the Ishvara side over that of
Brahman itself. Certainly in Sufism, God as that which is Beyond Being presents
itself in theophanic form to speak to us in a language we understand, and in
Buddhism, the manifestations of the Buddhanature in so many Buddhas and
Boddhisattvas are there to give us something to hold on to, so that we hear a
message put in terms that we will more easily understand.
While such comparativist discussions are necessarily
oversimplifying, they do allow for the potential to see the overall projects of
Sufism, Advaita Vedanta, and Buddhism as having many strong commonalities,
something which has been advocated and recognized by figures within these
traditions, such as the famed Vedantic scholars Swami Vivekananda and Ananda
Coomaraswamy, Sufi scholars like Seyyed Hossain Nasr, western Sufi converts
such as Rene Guenon and Frithjof Schuon. While Buddhist scholars are perhaps
less comparativist in this sense, because Buddhism doesn’t see itself as a
religion at all, the issue of exclusivity is less pressing, and Buddhism has
coexisted with many of these more doctrinally exclusive formations, and the
similarities in many of these projects has been noted by prominent Buddhists
such as the Dalai Lama. What’s more, many scholars have noticed strong
commonalities with classic Chinese Taoism, particularly as manifested in the
writings of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu. While these issues cannot be addressed
here, they are certainly worth pursuing more systematically elsewhere.
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