A REVIEW OF THE WORLD AS IT IS—A REJOINDER. The point you have raised and the question posed will require volumes to answer in days and weeks. But I shall try without much intervention o£ mental thought to answer you as follows : — I am dealing with these subjects as any layman with moderate knowledge and in touch with the happenings of the world will deal. First you have to see that there are two forces- working in antagonism—this naturally has been the case all along but their struggles and contradictions have been much accentuated since the last Great World War. On the one side there is some constructive activity on the part o

PHILOSOPHY, THEOLOGY AND THE TRUTH-— A LETTER. The distinction you make between Philosophy and Theology is,, I think, not warranted by facts, for both imply the highest knowledge, the knowledge of the ultimate Truth of existence and both are speculative and intellectual. We have intuitive philosophies in the Srutis and Smritis, Vedas and Upanishads which are not at all speculative but realised truths given or recorded in mental forms. The Life Divine of Sri Aurobindo, for example, which has been acclaimed as the greatest philosophical work of this Century, is according to Sri Aurobindo himself not philosophy but record of his own experience seen and

HUMANITY—PEACE AND HARMONY I had dealt with the workings of two contradictory forces, those of good and evil, light and darkness and Truth and Falsehood. These antagonists are striving to dominate our earth life ; they have ever done since the creation arrived at mental consciousness culminating in the creation of a mental humanity. But mind and mental humanity though they have been taken in the forefront of our life for over many millions of years have long been weighed in the balance and found wanting. That is how at the peak of human mental development we find ourselves no better than primitive animals which act on physical and vital desires and impulses and h

HUMAN BELIEFS AND MEANS OF SYNTHESIS Religion is not spirituality or spiritual realisation. It is a mental approach to spiritual life based upon moral and ethical and even certain aesthetic principles evolved by the human mind. It consists mostly of cre dal theology, dogma and rites and rituals of various kinds. A mental belief or conviction lies at the base of religions. All the divergences of religious belief and practice rise from this mental attitude of their respective seekers. That is why there is so much fanaticism, bigotry and war in religions. Therefore there is so much intolerance, hatred and opposition between the followers of different religio

THE GITA AND THE MOTHER Sri Krishna's Gita is well-known to the spiritual seekers all over the world from time immemorial and has been acclaimed by the elite as one of the best spiritual guide whose value remains unimpaired to this day because of the eternal verities it contains. Sri Aurobindo's Mother is not so well-known to the present-day spiritual seekers as his more renowned Magnum Opus, the Life Divine to the elites, the intellectuals and others who are interested in philosophical literature. From the point of view of practical guidance to spiritual or more properly speaking, the supramental Truth, this has an abiding value not only for the present but for all tim

-24_Avatar^s Their Teachinge A Letter.htm AVATARS — THEIR TEACHINGS — A LETTER Read the Gita and try to practice its truth's as far as it is possible in your worldly surroundings. What I would like to advice you, is not to judge spiritual ii&ma. personalities and spirituality from your mental standpoint Spiritual is a higher consciousness than mental which is almost ignorant compared with spiritual consciousness which is the consciousness of truth. So., to judge Sri Krishna and Sri Rama from your ignorant and mental consciousness will not be of any meaning. It will be senseless, and land one in a helpless morass from which one will not be able to extricate himself. I am not therefore enlight

CONTINENCE IN SPIRITUAL LIFE Spiritual seekers all over the world know that spiritual life is based upon certain moral rules and principles. These are truthfulness, non-injury to others, non-stealing, continence etc. called Yama in Raja Yoga. The others are Niyama which consists of cleanliness, contentment, austerity, study and self-surrender to God, Without these virtues there can be no basis of spiritual life. ' Naturally, when one begins spiritual life under the aegis of a Guru or competent spiritual teacher, many of these qualities will be lacking in the seeker but by practice one comes to acquire them and slowly and gradually enter into spiritual life. The

-29_Sri Aurobindo^s International Centre of Education.htm SRI AUROBINDO INTERNATIONAL CENTRE OF EDUCATION Many people who know or have heard of Sri Aurobindo Ashram do not know of its core, the heart-centre and pivot of all its manifold activities, the International Centre of Education. Sri Aurobindo had long thought of this centre for radiating his teachings through its alumnies as the best way to spread his spiritual message to the whole world. After the passing away of the Master, the Mother formally opened this centre with a few teachers and students of the Ashram school. In course only of a few years, it has grown into unimaginable dimensions and attracted teachers from all parts of India and a

A REAL YOGI In this intellectual age, Yoga, a carefully worked out practical science, is often confused with mere intellectual knowledge. That is way we find a plethora of so-called yogis who sell their yoga-knowledge. A real yogi who has realised his Self, Soul or the divine Reality of his being, is rare and difficult to meet. The yogi never sells his yoga-knowledge for any consideration whatsoever. He alone is the divinely appointed Teacher who imparts spiritual knowledge only to' those who are .capable of receiving it. There are not many who are really capable of receiving the light of spiritual knowledge. A certain mental and moral development in the right direction is necessar

THE PROBLEMS OF LIFE—AND THEIR ONLY SOLUTION The problems of life are age-old problems. They have so far defied any solution by mental, moral and material means. Science and technology have no doubt extended the boundaries of knowledge but they have left the fundamental problems of life untouched. That is why although scientific achievement has culminated in landing man on the moon, a feat deemed impossible even in early sixties, science has done nothing to change the basic nature of man, his possessive, acquisitive and domineering instincts, his predatory habits, his bellicosity and distrust of fellowmen and, last but not least, his incapacit