On Education (CWM Vol.12)

On Education

Collected Works of the Mother Volume 12

This volume is a compilation of the Mother’s articles, messages, letters and conversations on education. Three dramas, written for the annual dramatic performance of the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, are also included.

PART ONE. ARTICLES

The fifteen articles here were first published in the Bulletin of Physical Education (later renamed Bulletin of Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education) between 1949 and 1955. The Mother wrote them in French and translated a few, entirely or in part, into English; in this volume, these translations have been retained. The original translations made by others have been revised or new translations made.

PART TWO. MESSAGES, LETTERS AND CONVERSATIONS

PART THREE. DRAMAS

The Mother wrote three dramas in French for the dramatic performance held annually on December 1 by the students and teachers of the Centre of Education. Towards the Future was produced in 1949, The Great Secret in 1954 and The Ascent to Truth in 1957. Each play was issued as a booklet immediately after its performance, with the text in both French and English. For this volume, the original translations have been revised. For The Great Secret, the Mother wrote the parts of the Statesman, the Artist and the Unknown Man; the parts of the four other characters were written, in consultation with the Mother, by those who played the roles. The parts of the Writer and the Athlete were written in English. A letter to the person who portrayed the Industrialist is included as an introduction to the drama.

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Notes on the Way (CWM Vol.11)

Notes on the Way

Collected Works of the Mother Volume 11

During the years 1961 to 1973 the Mother had frequent conversations with one of her disciples about the experiences she was having at the time. She called these conversations, which were in French, l’Agenda.

Selected transcripts of the tape-recorded conversations were seen, approved and occasionally revised by the Mother for publication in the Bulletin of Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education; they appeared regularly from February 1965 to April 1973 under the titles “Notes on the Way” and “A Propos”. The English translations that accompanied the French text in the Bulletin were sometimes read out to the Mother for approval; the same translations, with minor revisions, are published in this volume, number eleven of the Collected Works of the Mother.

The following introductory note preceded the first of the “Notes on the Way” conversations:

“We begin under this title to publish some fragments of conversations with the Mother. These reflections or experiences, these observations, which are very recent, are like landmarks on the way of Transformation: they were chosen not only because they illumine the work under way — a yoga of the body of which all the processes have to be established — but because they can be a sort of indication of the endeavour that has to be made.”

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Anandmath (Italian)

Anandmath

Anandamath, dello scrittore bengalese Bankim Chandra Chatterjee del secolo XIX, è il romanzo dell’insurrezione del popolo hindu contro il dominio dei Musulmani e Inglesi, avvenuta nella seconda metà del 1700. Gli Inglesi erano allora in fase ascendente per il pieno dominio dell’India. Il popolo soffriva la fame, subiva patenti vessazioni dai governanti, era costretto a pagare ingenti tasse, così si ribellò. Chi lo guidò furono degli illuminati Sannyasin – uomini e donne erranti che hanno rinunciato ai beni materiali per trovare Dio, secondo l’Induismo. Il Sannyasin viene a conoscere Dio dunque viene a conoscere il proprio vero Sé: la sua coscienza s’espande a tutto il creato e si fa carico del bene e male di esso. Egli è mosso dall’amore verso tutti gli esseri. Il Sannyasin del romanzo non è tuttavia un rinunciatario della vita materiale: si butta con tutto il cuore nell’azione anche cruenta per alleviare le sofferenze del popolo.

Bankim sa entrare nella psiche dei protagonisti, ne svela i moti interiori, così aggiungendo alla vividezza dei fatti esteriori, a volte impietosi, i colori dell’anima. E il lettore ne beneficia , in quanto non può esimersi dal confrontarli con le proprie pulsioni interiori.

Sri Aurobindo, il pioniere della libertà dell’India dal giogo britannico prima e del futuro glorioso dell’umanità poi, di ritorno dall’Inghilterra (nel 1893) scrisse degli articoli su Bankim, che testimoniamo dell’influenza su di lui, per la virtù letteraria e specificatamente per Anandamath, il suo spirito e fuoco rivoluzionario, di opposizione costi quel che costi alla schiavitù di stranieri. E per entrare più a fondo e presto in quello spirito egli tradusse buona parte del romanzo. Il canto Bande Mataram, parte del libro, divenne grazie a Sri Aurobindo il motto e grido di libertà del popolo indiano agli inizi del 1900, ben prima della liberazione.

The attached work is the Italian translation of book Anandamath by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, from the English version of Sri Aurobindo and his brother Barin, as issued by Auro-ebooks.

Book Details

Author: Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
Translation into Italian: Giancarlo Pedralli
Print Length: 120
Original source:
Submitted by: giancarlo PEDRALLI
Book format: Pdf
Language: Italian
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光之游戏（一）LightGame I

光之游戏（一）LightGame I

This booklet is based on the tri-lingual (English, French and German) version of LightGame I published in 1977 by AUROPUBLICATIONS, Auroville, India.
这本小书《光之游戏（一）》是根据1977年印度黎明之城AUROPUBLICATIONS出版的三语版（英、法、德语）LightGame I翻译而成。

The author and the illustrator of the tri-lingual version are anonymous.
三语版的作者和插画师匿名。

Illustrations in this book come from the tri-lingual version.
本书中的插画来自三语版。

Book Details

Author: Anonymous
Print Length: 43
Translated by: Anandi
Book format: Pdf
Language: English and Chinese
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LIGHTGAME I

LIGHTGAME I

It is a very precious “story” book for children of all ages, introducing a practice that can start young and at any age. This tri-lingual (English, French and German) version of LightGame I was published in 1977 by AUROPUBLICATIONS, Auroville, India. The publishing house AUROPUBLICATIONS no longer exists in Auroville, and the book is out of print. The author and the illustrator remain anonymous. A copy of it was found at the Free Store bookshelf in Auroville.

Book Details

Author: Anonymous
Print Length: 41
Publisher: AUROPUBLICATIONS, Auroville, India
Submitted by: Anandi
Book format: Pdf
Language: English, French and German
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Prayers by T. V. Kapali Sastry

Prayers by T. V. Kapali Sastry

These seventeen prayers from the pen of Sri Kapali Sastrier were compiled by his famous student and disciple, Sri Madhav Pandit and published as a book in 1956. It has been reprinted several times. In this edition, the Roman transliterations of the verses are given and the translation of each line of each verse is given separately.

These prayers are meant for those who are interested in cultivating a direct relationship with the Divine. They are all dedicated to the Mother and Sri Aurobindo. These prayers make us become aware of the Masters, make our spirit of surrender deeper and increase our aspiration to attain all round perfection.

All the prayers except 4, 16 and 17 were originally in Samskrt, The prayers 16 and 17 are from The Mother’s book, “Prayers and Meditations”, originally in French; they were translated into English by Sri Aurobindo. Sri Kapali Sastry rendered them into rhythmic Samskrt verses bringing out their deeper meaning. TVK highly recommended these two prayers for his students. The prayer 4 is a popular saying of The Mother rendered into Samskrt.

Only scanty information regarding the dates of the composition of these prayers is available. There is a note at the end of Volume 2 of the Collected Works of TVK stating the prayer 7 was composed for a function in the Ashram School [now named as Sri Aurobindo International Centre for Education (SAlCE)) just before the Darshan day, November 24, 1950, a few days before the Master’s Mahasamadhi. TVK relates that among all the prayers for the Masters he has authored, it is the only one in which Sri Aurobindo is not explicitly mentioned by name. The prayer 13, Fulfilment (sampatti shatakam), was written on the 7th day after the Master’s Mahasamadhi. Prayer 14 was offered to The Mother and Sri Aurobindo on the author’s 55th birthday (Sept, 3, 1941).

There is repeated reference to the Light, highlighted in several Prayers. In the diary note of 2l.3.1936, he relates the words of The Mother spoken on that day regarding the Light of The Mother. “It is not all that see it. Those in whom the inner sense is developed see it; of course, many here (Ashram) see it, not all. When one is physically near, the physical sense is very active, the inner sense does not perceive the Light. But some, when close, even here, see only the Light, not the physical form at all.”

The prayers 5-7, 11-13 were translated into English by TVK. The rest were translated by Sri Madhav Pandit (MPP). The number 1 in the superscript of the translation indicates that the translation is due to TVK.

An audio tape and CD of all these prayers with an introduction is available from Auro Nada. Two audio tapes of some of these prayers, one done by MPP and the other by Vasanti are available from Dipti Trust.

Book Details

Author: T. V. Kapali Sastry
Compiler: M.P. Pandit
Print Length: 42
Publisher: Dipti Publishing
Submitted by: Sergei
Book format: Pdf
Language: English
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On Thoughts and Aphorisms (CWM Vol.10)

On Thoughts and Aphorisms

Collected Works of the Mother Volume 10

The Mother’s commentaries on Sri Aurobindo’s Thoughts and Aphorisms were given over the twelve-year period from 1958 to 1970. The commentaries may be divided into four periods according to date, character and form.

  1. Aphorisms 1–12 (1958). Oral replies to questions submitted beforehand in writing by the students, teachers and sadhaks of the Ashram during the Mother’s Wednesday classes at the Ashram Playground.
  2. Aphorisms 13–68 (1960–61). Replies, mostly written, a few oral, to questions written to the Mother by a young instructor of the Ashram’s physical education department.
  3. Aphorisms 69–124 (1962–66). Oral replies to a disciple. During this period the Mother digressed more and more from direct commentary on the aphorisms and used the occasions to explain the experiences she was having at the time.
  4. Aphorisms 125–541 (1969–70). Brief written replies to questions asked by the instructor mentioned above.

Sri Aurobindo wrote these aphorisms around 1913 during the early part of his stay in Pondicherry. Never revised or published during his lifetime, they were first brought out in 1958 under the three headings established by the author: Jnana (Knowledge), Karma (Works) and Bhakti (Devotion).

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The End of Certainty by Alexis Karpouzos

The End of Certainty

We live in a universe that can be seen and experienced from many different perspectives. We therefore need to look at the universe from many different angles. Everything and everyone is a form of the universe being expressed in a particular way. In other words, each one of us can say with absolute certainly “We are the Universe!” Since we are the universe, each one of us provides a valuable perspective that complements the contributions of everyone and everything else around us. Each of us is the universe being expressed in a particular location in a specific way. We’re all part of the same moving and evolving cosmos, but the view of it is unique from each of our respective locations. This suggests that the universe is not only omnicentric, but that it is also multiperspectival – there are many different, and equally valid, viewpoints on this. Each one of us is a cosmic laboratory within which we can discover the secrets of the universe.We speak in various ways, we are each the universe having become aware of itself in our own unique way.

The insights that the universe has many different perspectives and is both cosmic and personal has great transformative potential, and is worth reflecting on deeply. Creativity and Modern Science Creativity and Theory of relativity In Einstein’s theory of relativity, the notions of events (space and time simultaneity), mass and energy equivalence (special relativity), space expansion (big bang) as well as space and energy-mass equivalence, are introduced. General theory of relativity combined to quantum mechanics leads to the emergence of the whole universe from zero and absolute nothingness. Such “emergence-creation” of the universe from zero does not take place in space or time, since both are identical to the universe, space as energy expansion of the vacant space and time as a measurement unit of movement and change. Hence, the event, as “something” that takes place, and since it takes place, creates space, time and matter-mass-energy, constitutes a novelty.

Book Details

Author: Alexis Karpouzos
Print Length: 58
Original source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333617946_Alexis_karpouzosThe_End_Of_Certainty
Submitted by: Jenny Lavoro
Book format: Pdf
Language: English
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Sri Aurobindo’s Humour by Nirodbaran

Sri Aurobindo’s Humour

This book represents a new and, to the general public, quite an unfamiliar aspect of Sri Aurobindo — his humour. There is a common belief that yogis and saints are grave and reserved by nature. They have no sense of humour. Sri Ramakrishna was probably the first among them who is known to have shattered this false notion. Sri Aurobindo was revered and accepted as a great yogi, philosopher and poet, but was considered to be dry and dreary. His sublime philosophical writings dating from the Arya-period were perhaps responsible for this popular misconception. During his political life too he was branded as ’the man who never smiles’. Even to his disciples who saw him only four times a year, he appeared grave and austere, yet with a quiet compassion which made him so lovable as a Guru.

When I wrote to him complaining that his ”Himalayan austerity and grandeur take my breath away, making my heart palpitate!” he replied: ”O rubbish! I am austere and grand, grim and stern! every blasted thing I never was! I groan in an un-Aurobindian despair when I hear such things. What has happened to the common sense of all of you people ? In order to reach the Overmind it is not at all necessary to take leave of this simple but useful quality. Common sense by the way is not logic (which is the least common sense-like thing in the world), it is simply looking at things as they are without inflation or deflation-—not imagining wild imaginations—or for that matter, despairing ’I know not why’ despairs.”

Book Details

Author: Nirodbaran
Print Length: 105p.
Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Submitted by: Avinash Tiwari
Book format: Pdf, ePub, Kindle
Language: English
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Companion to Vedic Verses in ‘The Life Divine’ – Vol. II by Mukund Ainapure

Companion to Vedic Verses in ‘The Life Divine’ – Vol. II

All the chapters of CWSA Volume 21 & 22 – The Life Divine – have, below the title, translated quotations from the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and other Sanskrit texts. Sri Aurobindo called these quotations (or, chapter-opening epigraphs) “mottoes”.

The present volume provides the original Sanskrit verses from the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and other Sanskrit texts in Devanagari (without accents), translated and cited by Sri Aurobindo in the “mottoes” in The Life Divine-II (CWSA Volume 22).

The compiler has provided the Padpātha (in Devanagari as well as Roman Transcrip-tion) under each verse in which all euphonic combinations (sandhi) are resolved into the original and separate words and even the components of compound words (samās) indi-cated; and matched each Sanskrit word in the Padpātha with the corresponding English word in the Translation using superscripts, followed by footnotes providing alternative meaning(s) of words and explanatory Notes based on Sri Aurobindo’s writings.

Book Details

Author: Mukund Ainapure
Print Length: 155
Publisher: Mukund Ainapure
Submitted by: Mukund Ainapure
Book format: Pdf
Language: English
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