New Race

A Journal of Integral Studies

From the editor's desk…

Dear Readers,

We pray for the well-being of all as we convey Darshan greetings on the Mother’s birthday.

In the Mother’s Prayers and Meditations we find the following entry for the date April 3, 1914:

“It seems to me that I am being born to a new life… I know that I must now definitively give myself up and be like an absolutely blank page on which Thy thought, Thy will, O Lord, can be inscribed freely… Oh, to belong to Thee without any darkness, without any restriction!”

This was a few days after the Mother had met with Sri Aurobindo at Pondicherry. A new Life for the Earth was being born after this meeting of the Divine Shakti with the Supreme Being, meeting of Mother of the Universe with Lord of the Universe, of one Avatar with another. The true spiritual significance of this meeting and all that followed is beautifully captured in the lead essay of the present issue of New Race. What new chapter in the Earth’s Life has been opened as a result of the Mother’s and Sri Aurobindo’s tremendous labour of Gods? What new future has unfolded for the Earth and its destiny? Let us look to R.Y. Deshpande’s essay for some insights.

Once again the present issue of New Race takes the readers on a journey into the hearts and minds of several young learners studying at SACAR. We are happy to highlight in these pages a few samples of student work that document some of what they have been learning in the various academic courses that SACAR offers in collaboration with Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). The samples included here also reflect how these learners understand the relevance of Sri Aurobindo’s vision for our present times and conditions.

The somewhat introductory nature of the student work presented here is due to the fact that this work was submitted as part of the first semester coursework which is generally a foundational block for the work to come in the following semesters. This design is also in accordance to the third principle of true teaching given to us by Sri Aurobindo – to go from near to the far.

Our online courses incorporate different types of learning activities such as: wide and in-depth reading, widening one’s understanding through research and discussions with fellow-learners and facilitator, focused reflections on the core ideas, clear articulation of one’s understanding of the concepts, organizing one’s thoughts and ideas around a particular theme such as in the form of essays, introspective analysis, and contemplative exercises. Some of this variety of learning activities is reflected in the student work included here. We hope our readers will enjoy reading through these.

We welcome suggestions and comments, and we thank all our readers for their continued support and goodwill for SACAR.
Till next time….
Beloo

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