Dr Sachidananda Mohanty's letter to the Trustees

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
UNIVERSITY OF HYDERABAD
HYDERABAD 500 046, (A.P.) INDIA

Dr. Sachidananda Mohanty
Professor and Head
17 September 2008

The Trustees of Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Pondicherry 605 002

Sub: Peter Heehs’ book: The Lives of Sri Aurobindo, Columbia
University Press, 2008.


Dear Sirs:

I do not quite know in what capacity I am writing this letter. Technically, I am an “outsider”, but ideologically and spiritually, I consider myself a member of the larger Ashram community. I had the good fortune to be admitted by the Mother into the SAICE, and my career there spanned from 1966-1975. Currently, I am the Professor and Head, at the Hyderabad Central University. As some one who sees his life deeply connected with the upbringing he received at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, allow me to share my thoughts regarding the sense of dismay many have felt following the publication of the above mentioned biography by Peter Heehs. Perhaps as an academician, my comments may be germane to the discussion at hand.   ...full text...