The English of Savitri Volume 8

The English of Savitri
volume 8

This is the Eighth Volume of the English of Savitri series, based on transcripts of classes led by the author at Savitri Bhavan, in this case from 29 March to 3 May 2012 and from 12 September 2019 to 27 February 2020. The transcripts have been carefully revised and edited for conciseness and clarity, while aiming to preserve the informal atmosphere of the courses. This volume contains detailed explanations of the texts of three cantos of Book Two of Sri Aurobindo’s epic, namely Canto Seven, The Descent into Night, Canto Eight, The World of Falsehood, the Mother of Evil and the Sons of Darkness, and Canto Nine, The Paradise of the Life-Gods. Each sentence is examined closely and explanations are given about vocabulary, sentence- structure and imagery. The aim is to assist a deeper understanding and appreciation of the poem which the Mother has characterised as ‘the supreme revelation of Sri Aurobindo’s vision’.

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The English of Savitri Volume 7

The English of Savitri
volume 7

Like the previous books in this series, this one too is based on transcripts of classes held by the author at Savitri Bhavan, in this case from August 2011 to March 2012. The transcripts have been carefully revised and edited for conciseness and clarity, while aiming to preserve the informal atmosphere of the course. This Seventh Volume covers Cantos Five and Six of Book Two of Sri Aurobindo’s epic, Savitri – A Legend and a Symbol. Each sentence of these cantos is examined closely and explanations are given about vocabulary, sentence-structure and imagery. The aim is to assist understanding of the poem which the Mother has characterised as ‘the supreme revelation of Sri Aurobindo’s vision’.

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Poetizing Spirit by Rod Hemsell

Poetizing Spirit

In poetry of the highest inspiration we may hear resonances of ideas that inspire in us the memory and vision of truths innate to our souls and minds, that make us think and see, beyond the normal range of intellectual knowledge. Both Sri Aurobindo, known as the great synthesizer of “eastern” and “western” thought, and Martin Heidegger, one of the most influential “postmodern” thinkers, heard those streams that flow from the great rivers of ancient myth, philosophy, mysticism and poetry. And both foresaw the advent of a new consciousness and a new type of human being. Written during the first COVID year, this booklet of reflections on some of their most inspired thoughts may open the reader to that subtle realm of intuitive vision where the spirit of poetry echoes in the riverbed of Time.

Book Details

Author: Rod Hemsell
Print Length: 88
Publisher: Auro e-Books
Contributor: Edith Stadig
Book format: Pdf
Language: English
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Lotus Mountain by Rod Hemsell

Lotus Mountain

While assembling this “next” collection of poems, written during the past ten years, it was gratifying to realize that there has been a development in both the forms and the meanings that are expressed in these poems. Some of the heights that were aspired to or glimpsed in the earlier poems and under other circumstances, have actually been grasped, experienced, perhaps even adequately transmitted through these later efforts. Of course it is still “me” and my experience, my language, my energies; and everything I experience is conditioned by my particular range of exposures, my limitations, my aspirations, my receptivity or lack, and so on. But, as I have said before, these poems are the product of an effort to allow nature and consciousness to come into resonance and to express the product of their interaction through an inspired flow of words, as far as it is possible. As we have been taught by the Master, the less we impose our personal mental predispositions on the process the better the product will be. This is a method that I have practiced for 50 years, and at least I can say that I have kept the faith, and this modest product is the outcome. It is also the product of the natural environments in which I have found myself and which have often inspired me; the qualities of nature seem to sometimes  reveal themselves to me in ways that stimulate a flow of words that captures and embodies her beauty and power, her wickedness and weakness, her infinity of creativity and meaning that I find irresistible. For that I am deeply grateful, and I consider it a blessing of the Mother of all forms and meanings who has enriched my life from time to time with a particle of her Infinite Grace.

Rod Hemsell
February, 2020

Book Details

Author: Rod Hemsell
Print Length: 104
Publisher: Auro e-Books
Contributor: Edith Stadig, Krishna
Book format: Pdf
Language: English
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Poems of Devotion and Stillness by Rod Hemsell

Poems of Devotion and Stillness

In reviving these earlier poems and images of mine, composed between the age of 25 and 65, I recognize an implicit belief in the ability of poetic speech and consciousness to convey in a vivid way our inner connection with “nature” – in and around us – and to express the ‘reality’ of both nature and our experience. At best it may also express other realities that transcend both nature and experience, such as the idea that stones have eyes and ears, and our lives are influenced by celestial beings. This belief in poetry implies as well that language and consciousness are more than mere ‘representations’ of reality: they are faculties that resonate with nature and experience in a way that reveals a deeper symbolic identity or close kinship between the two poles of reality. This may be a naive belief, no doubt, but it also has its roots in the much earlier Vedic notions about language and truth. Being inspired by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, my hope is that something of the truth of those notions will be seen, heard, and felt by the reader. It is this same consciousness applied to contemporary environmental issues that has also informed the fantasy-essay on climate change, Cloning the Earth, written ten years ago but more relevant than ever and likely to be better understood, today.

And yet, while these may be universal truths of ‘poetry’ and ‘consciousness’, or at least reasonable theories, I also realize that these poems are the record of unique moments of my life and my experience. As such, they are a very personal effort to express what I have seen, felt, and understood to be their true nature and quality (swabhava). It may be said that the unstated theme is the unification of self and nature through symbolic speech. The drive to write in this way has made both self and nature more real.

Rod Hemsell
February, 2020

Book Details

Author: Rod Hemsell
Print Length: 109
Publisher: Auro e-Books
Contributor: Edith Stadig, Krishna
Book format: Pdf
Language: English
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The English of Savitri Volume 6

The English of Savitri
volume 6

This is the sixth volume of the English of Savitri series, based on transcripts of classes led by the author at Savitri Bhavan, in this case from 23 June to 29 December 2016. The transcripts have been carefully revised and edited for conciseness and clarity, while aiming to preserve the informal atmosphere of the course. This volume contains detailed explanations of the texts of the two closing Books of Sri Aurobindo’s epic: Book Eleven – The Book of Everlasting Day and Book Twelv威而鋼
e – Epilogue: The Return to Earth. Each sentence is examined closely and explanations are given about vocabulary, sentence structure and imagery. The aim is to assist a deeper understanding and appreciation of the poem which the Mother has characterised as ‘the supreme revelation of Sri Au robin do’s vision’.

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The English of Savitri Volume 5

The English of Savitri
volume 5

This is the fifth volume of the English of Savitri series based on transcripts of classes led by the author at Savitri Bhavan, in this case from 6 January to 11 August 2011. The transcripts have been carefully revised and edited for conciseness and clarity, while aiming to preserve the informal atmosphere of the course. This volume contains detailed explanations of the first four Cantos of Book Two, The Book of the Traveller of the Worlds. Each sentence is examined closely and explanations are given about vocabulary, sentence structure and imagery. The aim is to assist a deeper understanding and appreciation of the poem which the Mother has characterised as ‘the supreme revelation of Sri Aurobindo’s vision’.

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Wings of the Sea

Wings of the Sea

MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
FROM YEAR 72-73 (2016-2017) OF A LIFE
(INCLUDING 14 SHORT ESSAYS ON ‘SAVITRI’ PUBLISHED IN THE CRESTONE EAGLE)

AUTHOR’S NOTE: In 1968 the Mother gave me a hard-bound ream of hand-made paper, bound in the Ashram Press, where I was working. I was too naive at the time to fully appreciate the gesture. But I have continued to write. A first collection of poems, written from 1968 to 1977, many of which she read, was published in 1998 and dedicated to Matrimandir. One of those poems was produced as a play in Auroville, in the early years, to which she actually sent a busload of ashramites.

I have lived in Auroville for half of the past 50 years, and written hundreds of pages of philosophy. But I have also traveled to many other wonderful places, both physically and spiritually. And it is in that simple moment of clarity when poems are written that such experiences can sometimes be captured and, hopefully, conveyed to anyone who can listen and see. This small collection, mostly written in the 50th year,is dedicated to Auroville, which continues to inspire.

Book Details

Author: Rod Hemsell
Print Length: 50
Publisher: Auro e-Books
Contributor: Krishna
Book format: Pdf, ePub, mobi (Kindle)
Language: English
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50 Poems from Auroville

50 Poems from Auroville

This is an anthology of 50 poems written in the last 50 years, as a gift and tribute to Auroville on the 50th anniversary of its founding on 28th February 1968.

The poems are by Aurovilians, former Aurovilians and those involved with or who have been in some way touched by Auroville or The Mother and Sri Aurobindo. The selection includes poems previously published in various Auroville and private collections together with poems recently submitted in response to a request in Auroville News and Notes.

Not all the poems in this anthology are the product of openness to higher planes of consciousness, or are even necessarily ‘spiritual’. Some express a deep yearning for a life to be lived in oneness with the consciousness of the truth of things and the spirit. Some have been included because they convey vividly a sense of truth or honesty or strongly evoke a sense of connection with the place or scene we may have experienced, or tell us something about the Auroville experience. Or they simply have an appealing poetic quality.

Book Details

Author: Compilation of aurovilian poets done by Vikas (Alan Vickers)
Print Length: 43
Publisher: Vikas (Alan Vickers)
Contributor: Krishna
Book format: Pdf, ePub, mobi (Kindle)
Language: English
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Transcendent Sky

Transcendent Sky by Noel Parent

Transcendent Sky

Transcendent Sky is a collection of poems that explore the spiritual essence of life and inspire the awakening of the Soul and Spirit towards greater enlightenment and self-awareness. Through a unique offering of inspiration, contemplation, and insight, this book of poetry expresses some of the author’s inner experiences and personal reflections along the spiritual journey. It is a journey that evokes the Oneness of all of Life and the Divine Presence that dwells uniquely within each person. A meditation of words flow through these poems with the power to uplift, transform, and transport one’s Being to inner realms of Light, Love, Beauty, and Consciousness.

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