SAIEN

My earlier blog post described how I use music in the light of Mother’s guidance of educating the vital being by training the senses . This blog post will be more about Mother’s views on music and its spiritual effect in our life. Whether you are a practicing musician or only listen to music, music can be relevant to your spiritual practice. As Mother says,   “Music too is an essentially spiritual art and has always been associated with religious feeling and an inner life.” [1] Sri Aurobindo expresses the same idea when he says, “Music and art and poetry have striven from the beginning to express the vision of the deepest and greatest things and not the things of the surface only, and it will be so as long as there are poetry and art and music.” [2] And thus the time we spend with music can be used to enrich our consciousness and help in our self-development. And for Mother, this is the main purpose of music: “The role of music lies in helping the consciousness to uplift itself t...

Right from my childhood days till now, I have observed seekers on spiritual journey using "JAPA" (repetition of a mantra or a hymn) as a daily practice in most of the religions, be it Hinduism, Christianity or Buddhism or any other) across the different parts of the world during my travels to different places. It had been a curiosity in me in earlier days and now a realisation that this is perhaps a simple and proven way to connect and be in resonance with the chosen form of Divine (be it a Deity or a Sound or most cherished role model). This thought gets reinforced as we read the scriptures and stories of the transformational journey of Saints and spiritual leaders who chose "Bhakti Marg" (Sadhana through Devotion) as the path to tread in their spiritual journey and realisation of Self and its communion with Divinity in the form of the chosen Deity. Contemplation on JAPA as a Daily Practice and then self experince in doing JAPA in early mornings and late evening ho...

Why is Sri Aurobindo important? I occasionally encounter this question from a lot of people. But I am never quite successful to give a qualified answer. My awkwardness and surname often create a hindrance making others speculate that I am closely related to Sri Aurobindo. In this blog, I have attempted to answer this question through my experiences gathered over the past four decades of my life. I accidentally encountered the world of Sri Aurobindo and the Divine Mother around 1995 after getting admitted to The Future Foundation School in Kolkata. We used to have classes on the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. My monkey mind back then wasn’t receptive to these teachings. The only thing I noticed is the dominance of the word “consciousness” in the writings of Sri Aurobindo. This observation became the key to my understanding of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy in the later years. As a young teenager, I always aspired to leave India and pursue my higher studies in the West. Fortu...

The path to reconciliation lies in transforming boundaries into bridges. Polarities solidify into antagonists when they are bounded, when passing between them is impossible. When pathways between them are opened, they soften and become friends, then beloveds, then aspects of a greater whole. To begin with, one side must become real to the other. The spirit and aspiration that drives communism must become real to the capitalist. The capitalist can remain aware of the ways in which communism's rigid application and exclusionist framing invalidate the essential human longings for equity and collaboration that drive it. And the same goes for the communist, who need not ignore the selfish monstrosity that capitalism becomes when it walls itself off from the common good and dwells exclusively on its principles of freedom and individualism.   When bridges open between these two approaches to human economy, when we can begin to travel between them and understand the motives and essential t...

I was about 16 years when I was brought to Mother at Pondy ashram. I believe it was an invitation from Her, to re-establish my contact with Her in this lifetime. From then onwards, Her Presence has been constant. And herewith are some of the ways I experience Mother and Sri Aurobindo, how they guide me to treat every aspect of life as sadhana. Reading Their writings, quiet time to listen to Their Guidance, were the initial two practices that helped me to prepare myself. Slowly and steadily She has shown me ways to develop interest and capacity to grow spiritually.  About four years ago when I went to Pondy and sat down for meditation in one of the Centres I cried profusely in front of a graceful photo of Mother – though there was no reason for my tears nor did I feel any grief. Later a friend told me, it could have been a transmission from Her to expand my psychic opening. It was such a unique experience, for I felt lighter and joyous afterwards. I believe Her Presence and Gra...