SAIEN

As a student of Science, I am extremely proud about how science has progressed in leaps and bounds since the emergence of scientific revolution (1543 CE). Science has achieved almost everything material and rendered tremendous comfort to mankind. Science is all pervasive, starting from the mechanics of the toothbrush we pick up every morning to the smartphone kept at our desk. Despite the universality of science in all facets of our life today, it leads to several open questions. Is science complete? Can science resolve every problem of the civilization? How can science be fully realized? Can science point to ultimate reality or truth or Sachchidananda? In this blog, we will briefly examine Sri Aurobindo’s scientific outlook. But before that let’s understand how science is limited. Let’s imagine a well blossomed flower - Jaba ( Hibiscus rosa sinesis ). How will a scientist approach this Jaba? First, the flower will be examined carefully to identify its floral family using the power of ...

A teenager was observed as she was deeply absorbed in reading the famous novel by Alexandre Dumas,  The Count of Monte Cristo.  This novel spans some 1000 pages and encompasses themes of deep and abiding interest, but does so in a captivating story line. It so happened that this teenager was reading the book during an extended road trip across the USA including visits to national parks and the Hopi Reservation of the First Nations’ people. She was so absorbed in her reading that she noticed nothing at all for days at a time, and even when she exited the vehicle, she carried the book in front of her and read it while walking! She entered deeply into the spirit of the story and came away with a deeper understanding of the forces that drive human life, in a way that aided her in her adult life and way of seeing and looking at the world. The method of entering into the spirit of the written word is not restricted to reading of novels. Many people have engrossed themselves deeply i...

Each thought is a wrapping around a quick silver ‘I’. An ancient hypnosis weaves a specious trap, That blindly identifies with this fugitive ‘I’. This ‘I’ that arises conditioned by the past, A self generated software program Masquerading as the real person. This ‘I’ that arises a dream in each mind moment, Yet successfully propagates itself as being true.   Yet, beyond this ‘I’ is glimpsed the infinite sky, Blue with the Beloved’s touch. A borderless shoreless vast Where the lover and the Beloved consummate and become one. Beyond this ‘I’ the nightmare ends And the eyes open to the rapturous Dreamer Who is constantly becoming the dream. Momentarily the dream is absorbed in the Dreamer And only a tranquil sweetness remains… …until meeting the demand of the play it gets pulled into the next dream. - Anahita Sanjana (India)

Besides the need for purification, prayer, using the psychic mirror, developing the psychic attitude, etc. another thing that is important in our everyday life as we practice the Integral Yoga is the development of concentration. And as the psychic being is the center of our sadhana, the first and foremost thing we can concentrate on is the psychic being, our essential being behind and supporting the outer personality. Sri Aurobindo writes, "You have asked what is the discipline to be followed in order to convert the mental seeking into a living spiritual experience. The first necessity is the practice of concentration of your consciousness within yourself. The ordinary human mind has an activity on the surface which veils the real self. But there is another, a hidden consciousness within behind the surface one in which we can become aware of the real self and of a larger, deeper truth of nature, can realise the self and liberate and transform the nature. To quiet the surface mind...

Ripples in the Ocean of Being In the vastness of awareness Where does the knower end? And the known begin? Perhaps they never did Waves rising, falling Each claiming to be separate Until that moment of recognition When ocean smiles at itself Time—a story told Space—a dream unfolding Both appearing in That Which never moved, never changed Words point to silence Silence points to presence Presence points to itself Through every form it takes Who is reading these lines? Who is understanding them? Who is aware of this moment? The same One, playing all parts No beginning to find No end to reach No path to walk For how can That go anywhere? Here, now, always This that we are Never born, never died Just consciousness, dancing with itself - Kunal Nandwani (India)

A devotee reported the following incident: He had visited a researcher at JIPMER Hospital in Pondicherry, India, who was using Kirlian photography in his research. The researcher showed him several stones. One of them was an ordinary stone. The other one had been in an active temple for a considerable period of time. He showed the Kirlian (aura) photographs of the two and it was clear that the temple stone had a strong radiation coming off it. The researcher then suggested that this devotee become himself part of the experiment. First he took a photograph of his extended hand. He then had the devotee chant some mantras for a couple of minutes. The post-mantra photograph had a strong radiating aura coming off the fingers. One of the powers of an active mantra is to energize the vital being and strengthen the aura. The aura provides a protective vital field around each individual, so the power of the mantra is a boost to the ability of the individual to ward off negative forces, includin...