SAIEN

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...

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...

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...

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.