Dear Readers,

Darshan greetings to all!

The Mother once advised to the students and teachers of Sri Aurobindo International Centre for Education: "Read Sri Aurobindo's books and look carefully within yourself as deeply as you can" (CWM, Vol. 12, p. 204). This is the primary teaching methodology we use at SACAR when working with learners in any of our courses based on Sri Aurobindo's thought. We encourage our learners to reflect deeply on what they are reading and in fact use the reading of the text as a means to look within. The written assignments like essays, learning journals etc. also facilitate introspection and deep reflection. We encourage learners to express their understandings and reflections in the light of their authentic and sincere comprehension of the particular topic or ideas at hand.

In this issue we present a collection of such works submitted by some of our learners studying different aspects of Sri Aurobindo's thought. The opening essay by Biswajit Banerjee was written as part of his coursework on Foundations of Indian Culture. The next two essays by Chandra Pitchal and Menaka Deorah were submitted for their course on Psychological Approach to Bhagwad-Gita. Last year we introduced a new course titled, Vision of the Future, and we are happy to include two essays submitted by learners Sanjay Shirwalkar and Gauri Bahuguna as part of their study and reflection in that course. The last three essays represent learners' reflections on Sri Aurobindo's ideal of spiritualized society. While the essay by Deepali Gupta presents a more general reflection on this topic based on a close reading of the text, the other two essays by Todd Wilson and Terry Porter reflect a more applied understanding of this ideal more specifically grounded in the American socialpolitical- cultural context.

All of us at SACAR feel enriched in our understanding through such diverse and yet sincere readings and reflections by our learners. And we are happy to share a small selection of our learners' writings with our readers of New Race. As always, we welcome comments and suggestions from our readers.

Till next time….
Beloo