SHE comes manifested in the outer fields of nature, closer to our limited external sight so that even our outer senses can behold the Glory and the Flame. What is needed now is to tend the flame, to nurture and nourish it. What is needed is to renounce our old ways of life and start living afresh as a new born child who must learn everything in a new way. What is needed is to expose all our nature to its light and heat until all is ready for Her transmuting touch.
A talk of Dr Alok Pandey about the meaning of Darshan of the Divine in general Indian spiritual tradition, and Darshan Days in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram context (a re-post of 2016 talk, which has never appeared at this website).
Adverse forces need not be given more importance than it is due, but we need to be well equipped to deal with them when the situation arises, which is the central subject of the present talk.
A weekly sharing on Savitri by Dr Alok Pandey (an audio recording in English).
An essay by Bob Zwicker, which earlier appeared in ‘Mother India’
Part Two of an Auroville-produced video about the vision and work of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.
Different systems do not necessarily speak of different causes but they do speak from different levels, or may use different language. What we need to understand is that each system probes and understands man and his maladies at different levels of existence. They do not contradict but often complement each other.
Due to the sciatica-pain, it is difficult to sit on an ordinary chair. Could I be given an easy chair so that my body can rest while I follow the movement of the sadhana?
Mother does not believe much in an easy chair sadhana… What the Mother meant was that this meditating on an easy chair which is so common in the Ashram is a new thing to her and she finds it rather a tamasic habit.
Savitri hears the warped echo that arises in the ego-bound, sense-shackled mind of man. She then promises that she would indeed return one day to bring down the greater illumination from the Supramental realms.
A sadhak once asked Sri Aurobindo why the Mother had such a different appearance at different times, even on the same day. Even physical changes could be observed. Sri Aurobindo answered that it depended on the personality which she was manifesting at that time…
The Divine Maya is the Occult Power that works behind creation. She is not a power of illusion as is often believed to be, but a power of the Divine that receives her impetus from the Supramental Divine and turns it into real and living forms and figures, breathing into them something of her power.
We cannot ourselves change the nature of the different parts of our being, but we can make them consent to be changed… We cannot ourselves conquer the hostile forces, but we can resolutely refuse to invite them or tolerate them… When we shall fulfil these conditions, the highest Divine Grace will descend and conquering all our defects and obstacles will raise us to the life divine.
It is not enough to observe and celebrate these special days of Her arrival. Too much emphasis on the externals may well create a tendency towards turning the whole thing into a religion. What is needed is to light up the incense of faith and the flame of aspiration and decorate the altar of our life with flowers of Devotion and Surrender, Love and Adoration, Sincerity and Purity.
A talk by Dr Alok Pandey at Sri Aurobindo Centre for Advanced Research (SACAR) on April 9, 2018.
