Dear Readers,
We convey our warm greetings and best wishes for the winter Darshans. It is an auspicious time to reflect on
Sri Aurobindo’s and the Mother’s great lives, and their influence on our own life.
In this issue, we present a variety of articles from faculty and learners at SACAR. In the first essay, MA student Biswajit Bannerji reflects on his developing inner relationship with Sri Aurobindo, which was first nurtured by his love and attraction to Krishna. He explains that he was first drawn to Sri Aurobindo partly due to
Sri Aurobindo’s own “close relation” with Krishna, a relation that indeed became one of identity. Through his reflections on the relation of Sri Aurobindo and Krishna, we get a new perspective on both the personality and deeper Reality of Sri Aurobindo.
The second article, by SACAR director Ananda Reddy, examines management based on the four aspects of the Mother and the author’s first hand experience of her management style. Certainly, the Mother was a very effective manager of the Ashram, and in her last years, of Auroville. This involved managing not only the various members’ work activities as in a business, but their whole inner and outer lives. Dr. Reddy describes how this was done in concrete ways, often illustrated with experiences from his own life and interactions with her. From this we get a wholly fresh and unique perspective on the science and art of management.
The third article, by SACAR faculty Beloo Mehra, examines the issue of Hindu-Muslim unity in India. She notes how different political factions have misinterpreted Sri Aurobindo’s words by suggesting that he favored an exclusive Hindu political ideology. However, Beloo explains that
Sri Aurobindo in fact emphasized a deep universal and inclusive interpretation of Hinduism and advocated the harmonious coexistence of the two religions in India. She shows that Sri Aurobindo found the solution to Hindu-Muslim conflict to be in the heart and soul of the Indian people, and not in any political arrangement.
In the final article, by SACAR faculty Sona Kundu, we are shown the basic principles of Integral Education, and more importantly, how these were implemented in the Ashram school which she attended. This helps us to understand what integral education means at the practical level. Perhaps most inspiring is Sona’s description of her own experience in the Ashram school, and how she looks back upon it now.
We also have graphic art by SACAR faculty Margaret Astrid Phanes, who finds inspiration by meditating on passages from Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.
Finally, we note that we will be omitting the upcoming February issue, and instead are planning an expanded special edition for April, the anniversary of Sri Aurobindo’s arrival in Pondicherry.
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Till next time.......
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