26 Feb 2015

Sri Aurobindo's Marriage (Part 2) -- by Raman Reddy (republished)

Heehs then concludes on the basis of this evidence that it was “the usual desire for gratification” that was presumably a factor in Sri Aurobindo’s decision to get married. Now is this scholarship or speculation? I thought historians base themselves on concrete evidence and not on what imaginary characters say in Vedantic commentaries. If the teacher in the commentary speaks as if he has had marital relations, does it prove that Sri Aurobindo went through the same experience in real life? Extend that argument to other authors in their respective fields and you can come to ridiculous conclusions. How many novelists would be accused of committing murder, robbery and rape just because they have convincingly described them in their crime thrillers! [extract]

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22 Feb 2015

Evicted sisters observe token fast

The Hindu
Sunday, February 22, 2015

PUDUCHERRY: The sisters, who have been evicted from Sri Aurobindo Ashram-run premises, along with members of civil society organisations on Saturday observed a token fast in front of the BSNL office here demanding the Centre to direct the Puducherry government to take over the administration of the Ashram.
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21 Feb 2015

Hunger Strike on Darshan Day

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18 Feb 2015

AVOID GROUPISM – by Raman Reddy

[The following letter of Raman Reddy to the Golden Chain magazine (run by the alumni association of the Ashram School) was published in the August issue of 2005. We republish it here because of its relevance in the present context and the number of criticisms that have been raised on our blog against the stand taken by the Golden Chain Fraternity in the current crisis at Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Readers should be informed that Reddy dissociated himself from the magazine after the directors of the Golden Chain decided to become mere tools in the hands of the Ashram Trust instead of taking their own independent stand in the matter. So much for “the hero warriors” of “the great battle of the future” that they were supposed to become! – Bireshwar Choudhury]
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12 Feb 2015

The Golden Chain Fraternity – Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust Nexus – by An Alumnus-Disciple

It is the self-regarding desire-driven leap of faith of alumni and Ashramites and would-be Ashramites that endorses SAAT’s administration as that of the Mother Herself. And in return for their defence of its assessments, policies and actions, SAAT certifies them as truly committed to the Mother and Her Ashram, hence its legitimate inmates or fit to be admitted as inmates, and admits their children to its SAICE. The criteria Sri Aurobindo and the Mother demanded for admission as sadhaks to Their Ashram have thus been clearly overridden. – Extract

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5 Feb 2015

Sectarianism or Loyalty ─ by Nolini Kanto Gupta

MODERN culture demands that one should not be bound to one creed or dogma, swear by one principle or rule of life or be led blindly by one man. Truth, it is said, has many facets and the human being is also not a Cyclops, a one-eyed creature. To fix oneself to one mode of seeing and believing and even behaving is to be narrow, restricted, sectarian. One must be able to see many standpoints, appreciate views of variance with one's own, appraise the relativity of all standards. Not to be able to do so leads to obscurantism and fanaticism.
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