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Sri Aurobindo and the Logic of the Infinite

About this book, the author, Rod Hemsell says, “Most of these essays were collected in 2003, a few recent ones have been added to this edition in the sections on philosophy and mantra, but obviously the earliest already contain the same basic insights that underlie the more systematic studies that I have done since 2008, after reading Sri Aurobindo for forty years.”

On the cover of the first edition, Georges Van Vrekhem wrote, “Not only are there in the essays which constitute this volume the philosophical landscapes the author has been and continues exploring, there is also the testimony of his practical commitment to the realization of a better world. As Sri Aurobindo wrote, the whirlpool of the present globalisation may well be the disorienting transition to the unity of humanity, necessary for the realization of the next step in evolution. After all, if evolution is a fact, why would it stop at the human species? It is in this perspective that Auroville, the City of Dawn, the most daring utopia of them all, has to be seen, and it is to the working out of this ideal that Rod Hemsell is contributing with his life. This is a thinker who dares to walk on the roads of infinity and find on them his fulfilment.”

The Two Sources of Morality and Religion

In the spirit of Darwinian evolution, Henri Bergson, with this volume, makes the philosophical argument that morality and religion are the “natural” and necessary products of man’s evolution. With a look which extends back some 2,400 years to the ancient Greek philosophers, Bergson traces the evolution of man’s instinct, intelligence and intuition and shows how necessary their interactions were in the development of human societies, morality and religion and he looks ahead to the shapes they must take if man is to survive himself.

The Philosophy of Evolution

As presented here, The Philosophy of Evolution, is a compendium of lectures presented by Rod Hemsell at the University of Human Unity in Auroville in 2008, 2009 and 2012. The main thrust of Sri Aurobindo’s yoga has always been toward an active participation in the human evolution and this is the defining concept which set Sri Aurobindo and the Mother apart from all others in the very beginning. With his extensive knowledge of philosophy and numerous philosophers and his familiarity with current science, Rod is able to guide the reader through the development of thought in these disciplines and shows us the place that Sri Aurobindo has staked out for us as the enlightened forerunner he was. These lectures are not a difficult or tedious ascent to airless heights, rather, they are instructive explorations of the broader base camps surrounding the mount; it is left to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother to guide us in our ascent. However, with this exploration of the terra firma, we become ever more confident that our guides to the snow capped peaks actually do know whereof they speak.

Creative Evolution

Philosophers are thinkers of a different order than ordinary folks and Henri Bergson is no exception to that rule. In the spirit of, and yet not in lock step with, Darwinian evolutionism, Bergson makes here his philosophical argument for a continuous, creative evolution. Invoking the ancient philosophers, drawing on metaphysical precepts and enlisting the aid of an interested Nature, Bergson describes a view of evolution which would be summarily rejected by the pure materialist camp. Although the language is somewhat quaint, being translated from the French of 100 years ago, and not altogether easy to read, the reader is ultimately lead to conclude that Bergson’s intuition has indeed taken him to a perch that gives him a broader view of our reality.

The Philosophy of Religion

The material in this book is a transcription of a series of twelve lectures presented by Rod Hemsell at Savitri Bhavan in Auroville, India. With broad brush strokes highlighted with interesting and intricate detail, Rod paints a rich historical portrait illustrating the evolution of philosophical thought and its impact on religious doctrine which extends over a twenty-four hundred year span. The underlying theme, of course, is the slow and steady evolution of human consciousness flowing along many separate streams of thought springing forth from the fount of human experience while growing in knowledge. The depth of this discourse is not at all overwhelming; however, we are no longer wading in the kiddie pool here. In these lectures, Rod has introduced a number of familiar characters and ideas and he has also introduced several others who may not be so well known, all of which invites the reader to follow up with investigations of their own. Rod’s treks along ancient pathways draw us along to discover the great, underlying similarities between the major religions of today that might otherwise go unnoticed and he convinces us that such was always inevitable since we have been dealing with universal truths all along.

The Yoga and its Objects

This is a very early essay written by Sri Aurobindo no later than 1912 and it was first published as a booklet in 1921 under the title “The Yoga and Its Object”. In a letter written in 1934, Sri Aurobindo wrote: “But the book represents an early stage of Sri Aurobindo’s sadhana and only a part of it is applicable to the Yoga as it has at present taken form after a lapse of more than twenty years.” However, this should not be construed to mean that the information in this book is useless or somehow outdated. In the very same letter, apparently in reference to Lights on Yoga first published in 1935, Sri Aurobindo went on to say: “A book giving some hints about the Yoga compiled from letters to the sadhaks is about to be published, but it cannot be said to be complete. There is no complete book on the subject; for even The Synthesis of Yoga, published in the Arya but not yet republished in book form, gives only the theory of different components of the Yoga (Knowledge, Works, Devotion) and remains besides unfinished; it does not cover the more recent developments of the Yoga.” Clearly, these comments come from an ever evolving yoga; a yoga which, with Sri Aurobindo, began with a major step forward and moved beyond the stalled, stale practices of the nineteenth century. Perhaps the greatest difficulty of this short essay is the plethora of Sanskrit terms and that has been largely ameliorated with the inclusion of a glossary.

On Meditation and Discipline

Pavitra (from the Sanskrit word for ‘pure’, a.k.a. Philippe Barbier Saint-Hilaire) was one of the very early disciples of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother and he spent his last forty-four years in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. In this little booklet named “On Meditation and Discipline“, Pavitra has distilled the vast field of yogic practice and discipline into a compact digest that is accessible to everyone and it is free of any rigid dogma in the same way that Sri Aurobindo’s Integral Yoga was without any dogma. This brief, well written “start here” guide is a perfect fit for those seeking a greater meaning in their life and are leaving no stone unturned in their seeking. In clear, simple terms Pavitra lays out three methods for gaining control of our ever-active minds during meditation. He then lays out three elemental movements of a discipline which are necessary to transform spiritual experience into spiritual realization using Sri Aurobindo’s own succinct words. Thirdly, he describes the three realizations which are the very “goals” of the meditation and discipline. The icing on this little gem is a short poem by Sri Aurobindo, The Miracle of Birth.

Book Details

Author: Pavitra

Print Length: 13 pages

Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Ashram

Contributor: Blindshiva, Krishna

Book format: PDF, ePub, Kindle

Language: English Read more

Anilbaran Roy Conversations with Sri Aurobindo and the Mother

Anilbaran Roy Conversations with
Sri Aurobindo and the Mother

Anilbaran Roy Conversations with Sri Aurobindo and the Mother: During the early years of his stay at Pondicherry, Sri Aurobindo used to have informal conversations with people who would come to visit him. The visitors as well as Sri Aurobindo’s disciples could ask him any question that occurred to them. The topics of the conversations covered a diversified range of subjects which included not only politics, yoga or spirituality but art, poetry, literature, medicines, education-system and psychology to name a few. These talks came to be known as ‘Evening Talks’ since they were held in the evening. Between May and September 1926, Anilbaran Roy had a series of personal interviews with Sri Aurobindo (reproduced here under Interviews) as well as attending many of the ‘Evening Talks’ during this period (reproduced here under Conversations). Anilbaran left Pondicherry in October of 1926 and returned in December of the same year, after Sri Aurobindo had withdrawn into seclusion. After his return, Anilbaran continued to keep diary notes until February 1927. Anilbaran later recorded his conversations with the Mother in his notebooks under the title, With the Mother. These notes began in December 1929 and continued until March 1938.

The Mother with Letters on the Mother

The Mother with letters on the Mother. These inspirational essays by Sri Aurobindo form a powerful statement of the true attitude to be taken by a sadhak of the integral Yoga: one of a complete and dynamic surrender to the Mother. They describe the triple movement of aspiration, rejection, and surrender, the conditions for a true faith and sincerity, the irresistible power of the Divine Mother’s grace, the need to reconquer the money-force for the Mother’s work, and the joy of a perfect instrumentality through selfless work, surmounting the demands of the ego. The final piece describes the four great powers and personalities of the Divine Mother.

SABCL volume contains Sri Aurobindo’s text of The Mother, with letters on his spiritual collaborator, the Mother; and translations of some of her “Prayers and Meditations”:

Part I, The Mother. THE MOTHER was first published in 1928. The main part of this book describing the four Shaktis etc. and the opening portion were written in 1927. The rest was originally written as letters. Since its first publication the book has gone into thirteen editions up to 1971.
Part II, Letters on the Mother. LETTERS OF SRI AUROBINDO ON THE MOTHER was first published in 1951. The letters included in this book were arranged under ten sections. These letters with additional material rearranged under eleven sections formed Part III of SRI AUROBINDO ON HIMSELF AND ON THE MOTHER published in 1953. In the present volume of the Centenary Edition this part has been further expanded by the inclusion of a large number of additional letters and the material has been rearranged under twelve sections.
Part III, Prayers and Meditations. This collection is not complete. It contains only the portions which Sri Aurobindo translated from the Mother’s PRIÈRES ET MÉDITATIONS written in French. These translations were first brought out in book-form in 1941 and reprinted in 1948, 1954, 1962, 1969 and 1971.

Man After Man

Man After Man by Satprem

“Man After Man” is a shortened book version of the 2.5 hour long interview with Satprem by David Montemurri, a film maker for Italian TV. It was filmed in 1981, in the Nilgiris, the Blue Mountains of southern India, where Satprem and his companion Sujata were living.

The production of the eBook was made possible by the ‘Flamme d’Altérité’ Association in collaboration with Auro-eBooks.

The interview, recorded more than 30 years ago, may appear to take place in an ‘outdated’ political and social context, but Satprem’s answers, of a rare lucidity and full of empathy, remain absolutely acute, powerful and pertinent. The main trend of the interview centers on the future of humanity, particularly: What will be Man after man?

“We erect around us the bronze walls of our infallible laws, which are only the temporary hallucinations of a terrestrial species on its way towards the Truth of the Earth.” – Satprem