Tweets in original by Tusar Nath Mohapatra (b. 1956), Director, Savitri Era Learning Forum (2005), Founder, Savitri Era Religion (2006), and President, Savitri Era Party (2007). Savitri Era of those who adore, Om Sri Aurobindo & The Mother.
Between 1914 and 1921, Sri Aurobindo wrote several books on religion and philosophy in the Arya magazine but he conceived The Life Divine in a different way where he was weaving an entirely new ontology surpassing both Western and Indian tradition and contemporaries from science.
Dharma adherents have no hesitation in buying new models of mobile phones but when it comes to philosophy, the tradition is considered as pure gold. Sri Aurobindo has boldly shattered this opposition by religions by establishing The Life Divine as a universal and futuristic path.
From the debates and discussions among Dharma adherents it can be easily discerned that the cause of their confusion is the lack of reading Sri Aurobindo's philosophy. Unfortunately, such men are occupying leadership positions everywhere resulting in faulty policy and implementation.
Orientation in Sri Aurobindo's philosophy is exactly like Management capsule courses and should be imparted on priority basis. Genuine scholars on Sri Aurobindo should be drafted instead of promoting careerists and all-rounders. The Life Divine should be declared as National book.
Different schools of philosophy and religion failed to unravel the mystery of the life and the world. Science too expressed its inability to solve the same. In this scenario, Sri Aurobindo is the only source which can be relied upon. Reading him provides all the justifications.
Sri Aurobindo examines English poetry from the historical perspective but never subjects Western philosophy to a similar treatment. That tells the worth he attaches to the latter. Additionally, the epochal value of The Life Divine for ontology can be gauged from this circumstance.
People's fascination with the old and the ancient is a reflection of inertia and insecurity. Sri Aurobindo has produced a new philosophy. Accepting it and believing in it is the demand of the evolution. Unless this corrective is internalised, we can't come out of the present mess.
The West has a large number of philosophers but India has only one in the modern age. He is Sri Aurobindo. His philosophy expounded in The Life Divine is unique and unprecedented. Many try to link it with old schools of Indian philosophy but the commonalities are just ephemeral.
Those who are in the thick of current affairs may not feel philosophy being of any consequence but this very outlook constitutes a well-established philosophical attitude. Thus the question is which philosophy to follow. Thankfully #SriAurobindo is the best teacher on this score.
Religion ensures regularity of practice but blunts thinking ability while philosophy encourages questions by shedding complacency. Even then the individual difference is there moulded by heredity and environment. Finally the grace is instrumental for leading one in the right path.
Art and literature provide a lot of fodder for self-esteem and emotional maturity. Good for life but an inflated ego can be a barrier for spirituality. Philosophy on the other hand builds intellectual muscle and does ethical mapping. So it's valuable as the highest faculty of man.
Western scholars don't discuss Indian philosophy and try to keep the discourse confined to their own thinkers. In Sri Aurobindo, however, we find surpassing of both Western and Indian philosophy. Plus, he has the added advantage of yogic vision illuminating the path to the future.
Both on the front of philosophy and politics, Sri Aurobindo is the best guide. What he wrote on religion too is inescapable. Whether acknowledged or not his predictions are being increasingly imbibed by the public discourse. People find it difficult to digest but they are logical.
Awareness of Sri Aurobindo is increasing but many misunderstandings persist. Ashram and Auroville don't fully represent the philosophy of the Mother & Sri Aurobindo. Different systems followed by the local centres possess no definite validity. No particular book has the supremacy
Savitri Era: Which philosophy to follow
savitriera.blogspot.com/2023/03/which-
Tweets in original by Tusar Nath Mohapatra, President, Savitri Era Party.
Shipra Riviera, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad - 201014 (U.P.).
blogger.com/profile/120675The philosophy of Sri Aurobindo (1872 – 1950) is often compared with that of his contemporaries like Rudolf Steiner (1861 – 1925), George Gurdjieff (1866 – 1949), René Guénon (1886 – 1951), and Frithjof Schuon (1907 – 1998). But, important to note that the Vedic vision is unique.
Not a single scholar on Sri Aurobindo is active in Twitter. Therefore, there is a paucity of informed discussion on his philosophy and political theory. Apart from a few of his own books, scores of books written by his disciples and devotees never get any chance to be mentioned.
Telegraph edit says apropos philosophy education, "a knowledge economy, in which students are taught to think independently and ask questions, is of fundamental importance to the functioning of a democracy." Sri Aurobindo's philosophy too needs to be part of the college syllabus.
Douglas Berger has a post on Indian Philosophy blog on J.N. Mohanty. Although Mohanty was quite conversant with Sri Aurobindo from his college days and gave lectures on The Life Divine when he was a Prof in Kolkata, he never got to write a book on the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo.
Philosophy news from Western sources cite quotations from one or two centuries ago as if they are all time truths. Indians should learn to quote from Sri Aurobindo who is recent and modern. His Vedic vision is full of illumination. Colonialism in philosophy education should stop.
Rishabhchand owner of the renowned Indian Silk House in Kolkata joined Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Puducherry in 1931. His books are an excellent introduction to Sri Aurobindo's philosophy and yoga. His biography covers Sri Aurobindo's political life and events of historical importance.
Education of the body - medicine and education of the mind - philosophy are neglected in school education. Professional courses ensure further isolation. So, when one feels induced to read, say, Savarkar, then he should also read Kierkegaard or Heidegger apart from Sri Aurobindo.
Philosophy teaches to be patient without being carried away by historical narrative or current affairs. It stimulates to think and question and analyse where the previous philosophers have gone wrong. Sri Aurobindo is yet to be admitted as a philosopher but his theories enlighten.
Modernity and secularism forced the Western world to conceive philosophy as well as science as godless universes. The Mother & Sri Aurobindo, on the contrary, keep the divine origin of things at the core of their worldview. The involution preceding evolution forms its cornerstone.
Having been active in the social media since 2005 with the advantage of a thorough grounding in Sri Aurobindo's philosophy apart from being conversant with philosophy in general, I understand very well how inadequate the orientations of people are. Thankfully, Sri Aurobindo wrote.
Don't take any mythology, history, or philosophy to be true. Sri Aurobindo's writings provide good intellectual orientation but reading just one or two books or speeches can misguide. Also, keep away from the Blue Jackals of Hindutva brigade eager for appropriating #SriAurobindo.
The divinity and the philosophy of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo is the only reliable one in the present condition. There is no compromise on this aspect and we are demanding recognition of our new religion on bona fide claims. Auroville should be returned to the devotees forthwith.
Social and economic problems are intractable and the legal approach is inadequate. Hence the real ontological reasons need to be investigated instead of healing in a piecemeal manner. Western philosophy beats about the bush whereas Sri Aurobindo grapples with the matter frontally
It's difficult to claim Sri Aurobindo formulating any foolproof philosophy but his books surely expose the falsehood of other religions and philosophies. There are plenty of people who "respect" #SriAurobindo but don't read him sufficiently to understand his seminal contributions.
I have the experience of writing with a dip pen and preparing ink from tablets. Technological progress during the last sixty years has been astounding. Philosophy and aesthetics have been my constant companions. That so many people neglect their own self-development is surprising
Mythology trivialises philosophy. Sri Aurobindo relies upon the Vedic framework for formulating an evolutionary metaphysics that is in consonance with science. He also integrates it with practice and religion so that All life is Yoga becomes a translation of All this is Brahman.
Others are great in their own right but Sri Aurobindo is the greatest. Whether it's from the political history angle or philosophy; from psychological analysis or poetry, #SriAurobindo surpasses all. So, what's required is unlearning; shedding the past baggage. Then he comes near.
Westerners avoid India in their sociopolitical studies. Their philosophy is still more protected. City dwellers in India, similarly, keep the rural population and their deprivation outside their mental horizon. Twitter debates are good examples of it. Return to real issues needed.
Philosophy is mostly history of philosophy and the story of the philosophers. But if one is interested in knowing the mystery of the Creation, then reading "The Life Divine" by Sri Aurobindo is essential. After that, one is free to wrestle with other theories, whether old or new.
In The Secret of the Veda, Sri Aurobindo provides symbolic interpretation of the deities. These highlight different ethical dimensions found in all ancient cultures whether codified or not. Significantly, Nietzsche was aware of Oriental books of wisdom.
All of Sri Aurobindo's actions or writings can't be put in the same tumbler. People make the same mistake for Marx as well as Heidegger. The crucial aspect is what's relevant for the future. We are all victims of finitude and whatever little we know or enjoy can get really better.
Those who are unable to understand how Sri Aurobindo is superior to Gandhi, Vivekananda, Tagore, or Radhakrishnan will obviously be unable to know his philosophical superiority over Bergson, Whitehead, Husserl, or Heidegger. Appreciating Sri Aurobindo demands high intellectuality.
Many contradictions surfaced after Marx, Darwin, Nietzsche, and Freud which Sri Aurobindo resolved through his Integral philosophy. His contemporaries like Bergson, Whitehead, Husserl, and Heidegger, however, worked parallelly. The Western world is yet to discover Sri Aurobindo.
Bergson and Whitehead; Husserl and Heidegger; and Samuel Alexander and Teilhard de Chardin, so many facets of new thinking emerged when Sri Aurobindo embarked upon publishing his synthetic philosophy. But his Vedic concept of evolution as an unfolding managed to hold its ground.
From Heidegger's musings on technology and Benjamin's Art in the age of Mechanical Reproduction to Baudrillard's simulacra (via Klossowsky), all fall sort of the kind of mindless proliferation leading to loss of calibration that we witness today. And may be this is the beginning.
Heidegger was a contemporary of Sri Aurobindo and his main philosophical work was published within decade of The Life Divine. But his insights into language and poetry inaugurated a whole new turn of Western thought. Sri Aurobindo's deconstruction of the Veda is yet to take off.
Influenced by philosophers like Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Emmanuel Levinas, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Paul Ricœur the Western world came very close to know the mystery of the unseen world but cultural barrier prevents it from understanding Sri Aurobindo's investigations.
Stalwarts like Heidegger, Foucault, Althusser, Levi-Strauss, Wittgenstein, Derrida, etc. have lent credence to the theory that we are all wired. Sri Aurobindo however can be categorised with Badiou, Deleuze, Lacan, etc. for the "possibility of possibility" larvalsubjects.wordpress.com/2007/05/04/a-s
Did the world learn anything from The Mother & Sri Aurobindo during the last one hundred years? Not much apparently; but the West couldn't produce any major ontologist after Heidegger. So, no new philosophy. Every branch of knowledge seems to be converging towards #SriAurobindo.
I have not read any of their original works but some awareness on Hegel, Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Levinas, Lacan, Bataille, Foucault, Derrida, Deleuze, et al has served me well. Hundreds of books are written on them but still scholars are busy searching fresh dimensions.
Right now, we witness the peak of human civilisation but it would be an error to look at it as a cumulative result of merely human efforts. Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Jean Baudrillard point to the limits of human speculation and imagination but Sri Aurobindo restores justification.
From Baudrillard's System of Objects to what Graham Harman calls as Latour's litany, it's a complex phenomenology. Need to supplement with more prescient literature like SAVITRI of #SriAurobindo. Any intellectual rigidity or straightjacket can be counterproductive.
Young educated Indians read some bestsellers but neglect old gems. Brecht and Beckett are clues to decipher Barthes and Ricœur. Understanding Merleau-Ponty and Baudrillard is esential for reliable perception of the modern world. Many decry the Humanities stream but that's extreme.
Adorno, Baudrillard, Chomsky, and Deleuze can be said to be four essential pillars for making sense of the modern world's dynamics. Sri Aurobindo however offers the most coherent explanations of our existence outside the University curricula. Integrating them is task for Indians.
Must-read books
The Rebel (1951) by Albert Camus
Intellectuals (1988) by Paul Johnson
Examined Lives (2011) by James Miller
Mother (1906) by Maxim Gorky
The Trial (1925) by Franz Kafka
Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1970) by Richard Bach
Life A User's Manual (1978) by Georges Perec
Evergreen Essays: Sri Aurobindo's prose can be very dense and difficult but most rewarding
evergreenessays.blogspot.com/2023/05/sri-au
Collated by Tusar N. Mohapatra (b. 1956),
Director, SELF (2005) & Founder, Savitri Era Religion (2006)
Savitri Era of those who adore,
Om Sri Aurobindo & The Mother.
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