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Sri Aurobindo Ashram
 
 

Rishabhchand, 1900-1970, is probably best known for his biography of Sri Aurobindo, first serialised in the Bulletin of Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education from 1960 to 1971, and published as the book Sri Aurobindo: His Life Unique in 1981. But he wrote two other books that are considered important works on the yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother: In the Mother’s Light (1951) and The Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo (1953).

In this issue we introduce the third edition of In the Mother’s Light, a collection of essays and reflections, many of which were originally published in the Bombay edition of Mother India. The representative character of the Mother’s yoga is the dominant theme of this book, which was first published in 1951 and substantially revised in 1967. Through a deep reading and study of the Mother’s Prayers and Meditations, the author traces the broad outlines of her spiritual experiences and examines some of the basic concepts of the Integral Yoga in the light of her observations and perceptions and her moments of profound communion with the Divine. He shows in his study of these prayers that the Mother’s dual identification – with the Divine and with the whole earth – gives her a unique position in the spiritual evolution with the sublime mission of preparing humanity for the fulfilment of its highest aspirations:
This, then, is the Mother’s work— to awaken in man the supramental Truth-Consciousness and help him grow according to its law….The Mother’s Force is directed to the radical transformation of the whole active nature of man, so that the gulf between his outer consciousness and the divine Consciousness may be bridged and he may manifest the Divine in every movement of his individual and collective life on earth.

Towards the end of the book “The Rainbow Bridge” begins a series of five essays in which Rishabhchand shows how her prayers bear witness to the essential identity of vision and ideals which had existed between Sri Aurobindo and the Mother even before they met in March 1914. He traces this identity of aim and purpose under four headings: “The Divine Union”, “Physical Transformation”, “Conquest of the Subconscient and the Inconscient”, and “The Divine Manifestation and the Divine Life”.

To read an article on Rishabhchand and his biography of Sri Aurobindo, click here.

Our next book, The New Being and the New Society, is a compilation of the Mother’s words and some archival material concerning the formative years of Auroville. The compiler has gathered notes, messages, and excerpts from conversations and letters and arranged them under headings that reflect the concerns and emphases of life in the early years of Auroville. She begins with an introductory section called “Apprenticeship for an Ideal Society”, which sketches out the ideals and higher aims of the new city. Other topics include how money and property are to be viewed and approached, the industries, agriculture, and other activities that would provide the economic infrastructure for a self-supporting township, the challenges of organising the work of the Aurovilians, and the changing political and social organisation of Auroville as it grows and develops. There are the “Aspiration Talks”, the Mother’s weekly conversations with some Aurovilians during a few months in 1970, and many excerpts from the Auroville archives, from the papers of Auroville’s chief architect Roger Anger, from committee meeting notes, from the working notes of Shyam Sunder, whom she used as her liaison on Auroville matters beginning in 1971, and from her talks with and letters to several other disciples who were closely connected with the project. Roger mentions in his notes this response from the Mother relating to expenses for the Bharat Nivas file:
It is the work we will take up when you return—knowing how to learn what to do at each instant, what decision to take, to understand and see in the world of intuition the thing to do.

For the time being we must do our best with what we know, but later we will live in the world of intuition. (28.6.1970)

From Shyam Sunder’s notes there are many examples of how the Mother set guidelines for the development of industries and agricultural enterprises in Auroville:
Regarding the optical lens industry in particular and industries in general there, Mother answered that we could have local paid labour, but as for technicians from other places, they should be those who have understood and liked and accepted Auroville and its life. “Otherwise”, she said, “you will not come out of the old thing.” (17.4.1972)

And in response to a suggestion that fifty acres of cashew trees, planted on small parcels of land not more than an acre or two in size, might be given on lease to local farmers for one season, the Mother replied:
It would be better to find among the people of Auroville some who will be happy to do this work. (28.12.1968)

According to the author of the next book introduced below, From the Near to the Far, the essays collected there represent exercises in self-discipline, attempts to understand Sri Aurobindo and the Mother and thus “create in his heart the necessary condition of receptivity to their concepts, ideals and creative modes”. As a professor of English, Dr Basu’s interests naturally lead him to literary topics and most of the essays belong to that realm—studies on Sri Aurobindo’s epic Savitri and his long poem Ilion, comparisons between the poetry of Sri Aurobindo and Tagore, a look at Sri Aurobindo’s appraisal of Shelley’s creative genius, an essay on K. D. Sethna’s role as a crusader of aesthetic principles firmly seated in the spiritual consciousness, and an accolade to Sri’s Aurobindo’s prose work The Mother, calling it “poetry of sheer spiritual illumination”.

The power and grace of the Mother’s presence, so wonderfully evoked by Sri Aurobindo’s words in The Mother, are movingly presented in the recently released DVD The Mother: Terrace Darshan. The DVD includes 106 photographs of the Mother taken during her Terrace Darshans from 1965 to 1973, accompanied by the Mother's organ music and several of her readings from Sri Aurobindo's Savitri. The photographs were taken by Sudha Sundaram and sent to the Mother, who selected those prints she approved for distribution. To view them here in progression, year by year, is indeed to be caught in the spell of “her compelling attraction and captivating grace”.



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ENGLISH

coverIn the Mother's Light

— Rishabhchand
ISBN: 978-81-7058-913-6
Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department, Pondicherry
Binding: Soft Cover
Pages: 383
Price: Rs 220

The essays and reflections collected in this volume trace the broad outlines of the Mother’s spiritual experiences, primarily through a deep reading and study of her Prayers and Meditations. The author writes about her mission on earth to prepare humanity for the fulfilment of its highest aspirations and a complete identification with the Divine consciousness. Essays on such subjects as the psychic being, sincerity, service, and yogic action look at some of the basic concepts of the Integral Yoga in the light of the Mother’s words and experiences, and five essays towards the end of the book emphasise the convergence of vision existing between Sri Aurobindo and the Mother even before they first met in 1914. The book was first published in 1951 and revised and enlarged in 1967.

coverThe New Being and the New Society

— A Compilation of the Mother's Words and Archival Material during the Formative Years of Auroville
Publisher: Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Educational Research, Auroville
Binding: Soft Cover
Pages: 180
Price: Rs 200

During the early years of Auroville, which was founded in 1968, the Mother was engaged in many aspects of the town’s development. The aim of this book is to present a historical view, through the collection and grouping of documents, notes, conversations, messages, and reports, either in the Mother’s words or from disciples who worked closely with her on the project. Among the themes explored are the Mother’s guidelines for work, economic activities to support the township, the organisation of life in Auroville – internal and external –, and the relationship with the local villagers. Some archival material is published here for the first time.

coverFrom the Near to the Far

Essays in Response to some Aurobindonian Concepts and Creative Modes
— Dr Saurendranath Basu
Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Education Centre, Habra
Binding: Hard Cover
Pages: 194
Price: Rs 250

The essays in this collection deal with a range of subjects, including studies on Sri Aurobindo’s epic Savitri and his long poem Ilion, and related literary themes, mostly concerned with poetry. Several comparative essays are devoted to the poetry of Sri Aurobindo and Rabindranath Tagore; others touch upon the spiritual vision of Tagore, Vivekananda, and Sri Aurobindo. A few essays are concerned with Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy of aesthetics as well as the integration of education and spirituality as fundamental to the evolution of consciousness.

coverThe Mother: Terrace Darshan 1965–1973 (DVD)

— Photographer: Sudha Sundaram
Publisher: Sudha Sundaram, Pondicherry
Category: DVD
Price: Rs 300

This DVD presentation includes 106 photographs of the Mother taken during her Terrace Darshans from 1965 to 1973, accompanied by the Mother's organ music and several of her readings from Sri Aurobindo's Savitri. When the Mother gave Darshan from the terrace on the second floor, photographs were taken from a vantage point atop a building just across the road. Prints were made from the entire set of negatives and sent to the Mother, who then chose the photographs she approved for distribution.

HINDI

coverYogasiddhi ke Char Sadhan

— Sri Aravind; Prastuti: Amrita Bharati
ISBN: 978-81-89576-33-2
Publisher: Kalpataru Prakashan, Hapur
Binding: Soft Cover
Pages: 48
Price: Rs 30

coverVyaktitva Vikas aur Srimad Bhagavadgita

Sri Aravind ke alok mein
— Dr Suresh Chandra Sharma
ISBN: 978-81-7060-324-5
Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Society, Zonal Committee (Hindi) Noida
Binding: Soft Cover
Pages: 88
Price: Rs 25

BENGALI

coverAntaranga

— Samir Kanta Gupta
Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir, Kolkata
Binding: Soft Cover
Pages: 127
Price: Rs 75

coverSri Aurobindo Charitamrita

Shri Anirbaner bhumika saha
— Raghunandan Das
Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir, Kolkata
Binding: Soft Cover
Pages: 169
Price: Rs 70

coverAlaksher Teerbhumi

Sri Aurobindo-Srimar Bhabana o Srishtir Kichhu Anusanga
— Dr Saurendranath Basu
Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Education Centre, Habra
Binding: Hard Cover
Pages: 286
Price: Rs 250

coverMatri Anweshane

— Sushil Chandra Barman Roy
Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Karmi Sangha Trust, Habra-Prafullanagar
Binding: Hard Cover
Pages: 291
Price: Rs 170

coverSadhan Path

— Debabrata Majumdar
ISBN: 978-81-7060-319-1
Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Institute of Research in Social Sciences, Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry
Binding: Soft Cover
Pages: 26
Price: Rs 5

TELUGU

coverParatparam

— Conversations with the Mother; Recollected by Mona Sarkar
Publisher: K. V. Rao, Vijayawada
Binding: Soft Cover
Pages: 100
Price: Rs 80

Telugu translation of The Supreme

These conversations with the Mother were noted down from memory by Mona Sarkar. They were originally held in French, and took place in the late 1960s. The contents include, among others, "Mother – The Supreme", "The Mother's Voice", "The Mother's Feet" and "The Luminous Gaze of the Supreme". As expressed in the introductory note, "In spite of the human incapacity to convey the true value of Her words, ... these talks, it has been felt, reflect Her Light and Her Force; they bring something of Her Presence." The book contains numerous photographs of the Mother.

GERMAN

coverUnsterbliche Weisheit aus alten Zeiten in Mythen, Märchen, ägyptischen Bildern und im Thomasevangelium

— Medhananda
ISBN: 978-81-86413-48-7
Publisher: Sri Mira Trust, Pondicherry
Binding: Soft Cover
Pages: 186
Price: Rs 250

German translation of Immortal Wisdom from ancient times in myths, tales and legends

Medhananda, a German disciple who served as the librarian of the Sri Aurobindo Library for many years, was also a researcher and interpreter of the symbols in ancient cultures. In this book he examines several myths, tales, and legends in the light of mystic experience. What he sees are not stories about nature gods or tribal histories of kings and warriors, but facts, events and powers of the inner life. For him Heracles is not the muscle-bound hunter and hero of Greek myth, but the seeker of ultimate Truth, a symbol of the awakening consciousness of man. Other interpretations concern tales from ancient Egypt, the Bible, and the Brothers Grimm.

RUSSIAN

coverKak Pobeditj Zhelanie

— Iz rabot Sri Aurobindo i Materi
ISBN: 978-5-7938-0057-0
Publisher: Aditi, St. Petersburg, Russia
Binding: Soft Cover
Pages: 76
Price: Rs 90

coverVzroslenie c Materiyu

— Tara Jauhar
ISBN: 978-81-88847-33-4
Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Delhi Branch Trust, New Delhi
Binding: Soft Cover
Pages: 242
Price: Rs 200

Russian translation of Growing Up with the Mother

This book is an annotated collection of correspondence, messages, and conversations of the Mother with Tara Jauhar, who spent many years in close proximity to the Mother. Each section, such as the ones on education, sadhana and life, meditations with the Mother, and flowers, begins with an introduction by Tara which provides a context for the selection of correspondence pertaining to the theme. These letters and conversations reveal how the Mother lovingly and patiently helped and guided this young girl towards the discovery of her inner being.



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