Arguments for the Existence of God Published by Shubhra Ketu Foundation and The Mother's Institute of Research This monograph is part of a series on Value-oriented Education centered on three values : Illumination, Heroism and Harmony. The research, preparation and publication of the monographs that form part of this series are the result of the work and cooperation of several research teams of the Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Educational Research (SAIIER) at Auroville. General Editor: KIREET JOSHI Author and compiler of this monograph: Chitwan Mi

Rene Descartes Proofs of the Existence of God and of the Human Soul Ido not know whether I ought to touch upon my first meditations here, for they are so metaphysical and out of the ordinary that they might not be interesting to most people. Nevertheless, in order to show whether my fundamental notions are sufficiently sound, I find myself more or less constrained to speak of them. I had noticed for a long time that in practice it is sometimes necessary to follow opinions which we know to be very uncertain, just as though they were indubitable, as I stated before; but inasmuch as I desired to devote m

Appendices Sri Aurobindo Appendix I The Pure Existent One indivisible that is pure existence. Chhandogya Upanishad.* When we withdraw our gaze from its egoistic preoccupation with limited and fleeting interests and look upon the world with dispassionate and curious eyes that search only for the Truth, our first result is the perception of a boundless energy of infinite existence, infinite movement, infinite activity pouring itself out in limitless Space, in eternal Time, an existence that surpasses infinitely our ego or any ego or any collectivity of egos, in whose balance the grandiose products of aeons are

Appendix II Conscious Force They beheld the self-force of the Divine Being deep hidden by its own conscious modes of working. Swetaswatara Upanishad.* This is he that is awake in those who sleep. Katha Upanishad. All phenomenal existence resolves itself into Force, into a movement of energy that assumes more or less material, more or less gross or subtle forms for self-presentation to its own experience. In the ancient images by which human thought attempted to make this origin and law of being intelligible and real to itself, this infinite existence of Force was figured as a sea, initially at rest and therefore free from forms, but the f

Appendix III Delight of Existence: The Problem For who could live or breathe if there were not this delight of existence as the ether in which we dwell? From Delight all these beings are born, by Delight they exist and grow, to Delight they return. Taittiriya Upanishad.* But even if we accept this pure Existence, this Brahman, this Sat as the absolute beginning, end and continent of things and in Brahman an inherent self-consciousness inseparable from its being and throwing itself out as a force of movement of consciousness which is creative of forces, forms and worlds, we have yet no answer to the question "Why should Brahman, perfe

Appendix IV Delight of Existence: The Solution The name of That is the Delight; as the Delight we must worship and seek after It. Kena Upanishad.* In this conception of an inalienable underlying delight of existence of which all outward or surface sensations are a positive, negative or neutral play, waves and foamings of that infinite deep, we arrive at the true solution of the problem we are examining. The self of things is an infinite indivisible existence; of that existence the essential nature or power is an infinite imperishable force of self-conscious being; and of that self-consciousness the essential nature or knowledge of itself

AN ORDINARY SEEKER I am a seeker; I have been obliged to become a seeker by the pressure of all that is around me and my circumstances, external and internal. I am by any standard an ordinary person. I am not a thinker/ but I think; I do not have an oceanic heart, but I feel and sympathise; at times, greatly and deeply; I am not heroic, I must confess; often I act because I must; often I lose courage and feel ashamed; even when I dream, I do not act strenuously to realise -my dreams. I have been living much on the surface; I have heard that there are depths and widenesses of our being, but I am ignorant of them. My psychological existence is simple. A small but clamor

APPENDIX-I 1. The world and ourselves— these two basic phenomena are undeniable; that the world is observable and understandable by us is a fact, however mysterious may be the precise mechanism and however debatable may be the ultimate meaning we may attach to the world and our observing intelligence. 2. Our intelligence consists of the senses,—in the first place; but supreme over the senses is the mind; and supreme over the mind is the intelligent will, buddhi; that which is supreme over the intelligent will is he, the conscious self, the Purusha. (Mind is superior to senses because even if the senses are operative, but if the mind is not attentive to the operation of t

PREFACE The aim of this book is not to present a scholarly interpretation of the Bhagvadgita; the aim is to gather from that great book a few insights and to relate them to some of the needs of our own times. The fictional form in which this study has been presented is experimental in character; it was felt that this form might prove convenient in presenting helpful light from the Gita in an exploratory manner on some typical situations of our present day life. Among various books written on the Gita/ the one that has given me true illumination is Sri Aurobindo's "Essays on the Gita", and I shall feel rewarded if readers turn to that book. New Delhi 29.11.1995 Kireet J

The aim of this book is not to present a scholarly interpretation of the Bhagvadgita; the aim is to gather from that great book a few insights and to relate them to some of the needs of our own times. The fictional form in which this study has been presented is experimental in character; it was felt that this form might prove convenient in presenting helpful light from the Gita in an exploratory manner on some typical situations of our present day life. Dedicated to the upward effort of India to uncover its ancient spiritual knowledge and to build new paths of the future "We do not belong to the dawns of the past but t