Posts

The Call of the Divine Flute

An individual is living out his life, following his career, pursuing education, enjoying himself, raising a family, pursuing a hobby. All quite normal things. For most people, this is the frame within which his life carries on, and he experiences the joys and sorrows, the pains and the pleasures, the victories and the defeats that life doles out to him. Some individuals, however, find that this normal trajectory is disrupted through some unexpected turn. In some cases these things creep up slowly and the individual experiences a nagging sense of dissatisfaction or longing, or simply feels that this cannot be all, this cannot be the entirety and the meaning and purpose of life. He seeks for answers, he tunes his hearing to the sound of the divine flute and its call to him, urging him to look further, to go deeper, to seek for the answers he somehow knows are out there, waiting for him. For others, the shift of focus comes with some sudden event or circumstance. Saul on the road to Damas

What Sri Aurobindo Means to Me

Everything and Nothing Sri Aurobindo means everything to me; He means nothing to me. There are moments when I am absorbed by His presence, lost in His smile; a child gazing into His eyes. Then He is everything – making me complete, at one with myself, in touch with the core of my being. Then there are no questions and no answers. It is just enough to be. There have been times when I have experienced an intimate connection, His touch, His guidance, His protection, very concretely. Not very often, but in a powerful way. These are the high points of my inner life and I can tap into these in moments of darkness when I am moving away from who I am and what am I here for. Then He is everything. But, I am still so far away from doing sincere, constant sadhana. So far away from being preoccupied with yoga. I so easily forget to make the connection between the inner life and my speech, my actions, my thoughts, my emotions. There is no conscious memory of Sri Aurobindo or The Mother in these mom

A Spiritual Retreat and Seekers’ Delight in the Heart of Delhi – Sri Aurobindo Ashram

During a recent visit to Delhi, a one-night stay at  TAPASYA  Guest house in Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Delhi premises was a serene experience. This visit, after a gap of many years, after I moved to Ahmedabad many years back in year 2000, was a delightful witnessing of the exponential growth in Ashram activities in a serene environment. What continues are sustaining Core Values imbibed from the holistic approach of Integral Yoga for all-round development of Individual Self and also the Ashram community as a whole. I could notice many resemblances in the way of life of Ashramites in Pondicherry Ashram and Delhi Ashram. This is probably due to the legacy of Sri Surendra Nath Jauhar "Chachaji", an ardent devotee of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, further nurtured by Sushri Tara Didi. My last visit to the Ashram was in 1996 with my father, Dr. Devaki Nandan Srivastava, as my father was also closely connected with Sri Aurobindo Society and Ashram. Though being in touch with activities o

The Mother's Eyes

Liquid light flows from your eyes, Their dew condensate Moistens the universe, Softening its hardness into the omnipresent melting pearl, Whose whiteness invisibly permeates the black and the grey, So that ‘darkness’ truly is a magic of self-hidden light, And all of me longing to be moistened by this precious dew, Gives itself to you To your eyes to be consumed by them.

Boredom and Its Cure

We are frequently not aware of the state of boredom and its various manifestations within us. We do recognise periods when we feel at a loss and want to do or experience something or distract our minds and we recognise these times as boredom. What we do not necessarily recognise however are the times when we seem busy and active, but actually are trying to compensate for the feeling of boredom. Modern society has habituated us to be always in motion, to be “doing” something, experiencing something, or simply keeping our minds occupied. With the advent of radio, television, and cell phones, we see people constantly seeking out some kind of stimulation. A state of simple quietude is rare and considered abnormal! When asked, people tend to respond with what they are “doing” and replying that they are just doing ‘nothing’ is looked upon as some kind of aberration. Many people go through the entire day with some form of stimulation occupying their minds and vital beings. If the cell phone,

22 February - SAIEN anniversary

Dear Collaborators, February 2024 is a special time of the year.... with The Mother's birthday on the 21 st , followed by Auroville's birthday on the 28 th  and the leap year Supramental (Golden) day on the 29 th  of Feb; it is a month of special descents and Grace. February 22 nd   marks also the 2 nd  anniversary of the Sri Aurobindo Integral Education Network (SAIEN) that was set up to celebrate the 150 th  birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo, and this wonderful international network of organisations, countries, groups and individuals came together on this day for a special invocation and sharing, connecting those turned towards the Integral path of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. As we have all seen, this past year has been challenging in that the forces opposing the general progress of the world at large have massed together to forge wars in various parts of the world, notably the wars in Israel-Gaza and Ukraine-Russia. We have taken refuge in the words of the Mother about th

Death … Wake Up Call & Need for Conscious Preparation

Like me, most of us would have read in scriptures and also heard from accomplished spiritual seekers regarding the event called Death .. which is the end of material existence when one stops Breathing (inactivation of PRANA element). This is a certainty of Life Journey yet remains a mystery and also cause of Fear and could cause grief and emotional stress. Spiritual seekers do get premonition/subtle signals and they also make conscious preparation to face the reality called DEATH as was the case with my parents, both disciples of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. Sri Aurobindo has described this phenomena as “Unconscious Rest” and need for conscious preparation by gradual abolition of Desires, attachments with material world of possessions and attachments. I wish to share my first-hand experience of closely witnessing this phenomena happening in case of my father, Dr Devki Nandan Srivastava, who was an academician by profession and an ardent devotee of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother right fr