August 2015 - Auro e-Books

The Hour of God

“The pieces collected together in this book were written by Sri Aurobindo between 1910 and 1940. None of them were published during his lifetime; none received the final revision he gave to his major works. Most of the pieces were first printed in various journals published by the Ashram, and subsequently in the different editions of The Hour of God, beginning with the first edition (1959).”

In reading these essays, one gets the very distinct feeling that the author really does know whereof he speaks. Here, we are able to sit in his lap and listen as he fabricates one description after another of the ineffable and explains how we too can share in the realization awaiting us at the end of what seems, in the clarity of his vision, to be not such an arduous path. It is not that he ever says that the way is easy, quite the contrary; but the certainty with which he speaks seems to put it into reach.

The Master As I Saw Him

This is an intimate look at the life and times of Swami Vivekananda through the eyes of the devout disciple named by him as Sister Nivedita. Born in Ireland, 1867, Margaret Elizabeth Noble became enamored of Vivekananda’s teachings when she heard him speak in London in 1895. She characterized her encounter with Vivekananda as providential; he being the deliverer of the call to service she had been waiting for. So, in 1898, she found herself in India, ready and willing to fulfill her life’s purpose. Three-months after arriving in India, she became the first Western woman to be received into an Indian monastic order. Soon, she opened a school for girls and spent the remainder of her life in service to India, teaching, caring for the ill and promoting Indian independence. But, of course, this book is not about her rather, it is about the man who inspired her, Vivekananda. In this portrait, you will find a God-driven man who gave his all for God and country, dedicating himself to the resurrection of India to her rightful glory. As a little bonus, we have added two appendices containing a few of Sri Aurobindo’s own words on Sister Nivedita, Ramakrishna and Vivekananda.