FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER

February 2020 SRI AUROBINDO SOCIETY VOL 34.02 Singapore NEWSLETTER The Vital Vital Opening The vital is ready to receive the Divine influence. Saritaea magnifica Clusters of fragrant medium-sized rose purple trumpet-shaped salverform flowers with five rounded lobes, a flattened corolla tube and a white throat streaked with fine parallel lines. A scandent shrub with smooth leathery obovate leaves. What is needed is the path of vastness, widening, relaxation, ease, of blossoming in the vital – not so much a sensorial vital as…as a gentleness, a sweetness. The vital blossoming into beauty: a sweetness and beauty. I don’t want to speak of “sentiments” because…oh, that leads us right into a quagmire! No, but…a sweetness, a charm, a beauty – but not there (in the head): here. (The Mother) Yes, that is the nature of the vital. It can make the absolute and enthusiastic surrender as well as cause all the trouble possible. Without the vital there is no life or force of action or manifestation; it is a necessary instrument of the spirit for life. (Letters on Yoga – IV)

The Vital Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. February 2020. Guiding Light of the Month Thou didst wake up the vital being with the magic wand of Thy impulsion and say to it: “Awake, bend the bow of thy will, for soon the hour of action will come.” Suddenly awakened, the vital being rose up, stretched itself and shook off the dust of its long torpidity; from the elasticity of its members it realised that it was still vigorous and fit for action. And with an ardent faith it answered the sovereign call: “Here I am, what dost Thou want of me, O Lord?” Dec 8, 1916 Prayers and Meditations, The Mother From the Editor’s Desk In the last few issues of our newsletter, we briefly nature, and it inevitably starts with one’s own. touched on the Mental aspect of the being. In this issue, we take a look at The Vital. Below mind stands the Vital, There are various parts to the Vital. There is a higher vital the seat of forces of passions and desires, ambition and which has a contact with the mind and is an emotional lusts. So too does it have an invincible enthusiasm to take being. The middle vital has its seat in the navel and is part in activities that are pleasing to it. Sri Aurobindo passionate, dynamic, and sensational. This is also the seat refers to the vital as a “thing of desires, impulses, force- of ambition. The lower vital concerns itself with the petty greeds, small desires, and lusts. The lower vital is all that pushes, emotions, sensations, seekings after life- shows up in the ordinary sensational being living an fulfilment, possession and enjoyment…” The vital gives ordinary human life. There is a vital-physical being, the full sanction and takes part too in the drama of life. The nervous being which reacts to life’s contacts with the usual vital clamours for its own “separative self-affirmation”. It pushes for, under many guises, its “own growth, for reflexes. There is also the surface vital and the true vital possession, for enjoyment, for conquest and empire.” behind that surface which is in closer contact with the Divine element in us and above. These two types of vital are described as follows: However, when the being identifies with the true vital and knows that its true purpose lies elsewhere, in turning to “The surface vital is narrow, ignorant, limited, full of higher forces for a higher purpose, then much of the obscure desires, passions, cravings, revolts, pleasures difficulties we face on the path diminish as all the and pains, transient joys and griefs, exultations and enthusiasm sways Godward, eager to do only His will. depressions. The true vital being on the contrary is When would this turning in the being take place, this wide, vast, calm, strong, without limitations, firm and allegiance to the Divine? Vital education is an important aspect of Integral Education. The Mother writes: “Of all immovable, capable of all power, all knowledge, all education, vital education is perhaps the most important, Ananda.” the most indispensable.” Flip the following pages to learn more about the vital so However, in mainstream schools and even in the many that this can be made a basis to study one’s own vital other alternative schools, it is rarely taken up with tendencies, the weaker spots and the strengths therein. seriousness or with a comprehensive approach. She February is a Golden month this year. Besides The gives two reasons for this complacency: “… first, the Mother’s 142nd Birth Anniversary, we observe The human mind is in a state of great confusion about this Golden Day on the 29th of February. On this day in 1956, particular subject; secondly, the undertaking is very difficult and to be successful in it one must have endless the supramental light was brought down into this earth endurance and persistence and a will that no failure can plane to do its work of transformation and weaken.” There is here an indication of the complexity transfiguration. May we aspire for a continuous and and difficulty of this subject of the vital. One needs to steady growth of our consciousness; may we realise the understand it well, as in what makes it work ordinarily, magnitude of the part we are called upon to play in the and what makes it go on strike, and what finally turns it present times we live in. We also remember Auroville Godward. This involves a relentless study of the human fondly this month on its 52nd Birthday on 28th February. www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 2 The Vital

The Vital Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. February 2020. Savitri The shining Edens of the vital gods Received him in their deathless harmonies. All things were perfect there that flower in Time; Beauty was there creation’s native mould, Peace was a thrilled voluptuous purity. There Love fulfilled her gold and roseate dreams And Strength her crowned and mighty reveries; Desire climbed up, a swift omnipotent flame, And Pleasure had the stature of the gods; Dream walked along the highways of the stars; Sweet common things turned into miracles: Overtaken by the spirit’s sudden spell, Smitten by a divine passion’s alchemy, Pain’s self compelled transformed to potent joy Curing the antithesis twixt heaven and hell. All life’s high visions are embodied there, Her wandering hopes achieved, her aureate combs Caught by the honey-eater’s darting tongue, Her burning guesses changed to ecstasied truths, Her mighty pantings stilled in deathless calm And liberated her immense desires. In that paradise of perfect heart and sense No lower note could break the endless charm Of her sweetness ardent and immaculate; Her steps are sure of their intuitive fall. Savitri, Sri Aurobindo www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 3 The Vital

The Vital Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. February 2020. Questions & Answers But when one tries, if one makes a mistake unconsciously, how can one know? If you are quite sincere, you know. Not to know one’s fault is always the sign of an insincerity somewhere. And generally, it is hidden in the vital. When the vital consents to collaborate (which is already a big step), when it decides that it too is going to work, to devote all its effort and all its energy to accomplish the work, even then there is underneath, well hidden somewhere, a sort of — how shall we call it? — an expectation that things will turn out well and the result will be favourable. And that veils the complete sincerity. For this expectation is an egoistic, personal thing, and this veils the full sincerity. Then you do not know. But if one is altogether, absolutely sincere, as soon as what one is doing is not exactly what should be done, one feels it very clearly — not violently but very clearly, very precisely: “No, not this.” And then if one has no attachment, immediately it stops, instantaneously it stops. But one has attachment, even for a disinterested work. That’s what you must understand. You have given your life for a cause that is not egoistic, but the ego is there all the same. And you have a way of doing the thing which is special, personal to you; and you have within you a hope (not to speak of a desire) that the result will be like this, that you will get this and it will be done. Even a work that is not done for yourself but which you have undertaken, you expect that it will succeed, that you will have success — not personally — for the thing you have undertaken, the work that you are doing. Well, that brings in just a little bit of something like that, down below, quite hidden, quite a tiny thing which is a little... not very straight, a little bent, twisted. And then you do not know. But if that were not there, as soon as you failed to do exactly what should be done, you would know. You would know it absolutely precisely. It is as delicate a movement as the thousandth part of a millimetre would be. Yes, it is there, and that is sufficient, you know: “I was mistaken.” But you must have that absolute sincerity which precisely does not want at any cost to blunder, which will do anything, give up everything, everything, rather than live in any kind of illusion. But it is very difficult; it takes time and much labour. When you are doing a thing, always those two, the mind and the vital are there, trying to draw some benefit or other out of what you are doing: the benefit of personal satisfaction, the benefit of happiness, the benefit of a good opinion. The Mother (Questions and Answers 1953) The Vital The Vital or Life faculty or part of the being, in Sri Aurobindo's philosophy, refers not simply to the etheric being or life force as to the various passions, desires, feelings, emotions, affects, compulsions, and likes and dislikes that strongly determine human motivation and action through desire and enthusiasm. It would seem to correspond to the \"animal soul\" or \"irrational soul\" of Platonic, Neoplatonic, Christian, and Islamic thought, the Nefesh Habehamis of Chabad Hassidism and Kabbalah, Blavatsky's Kama or desire principle (see the Septenary), Leadbeater's (and later New Age) Emotional body, and Théon's Nervoux or Nervous Principle. Unlike Western psychology, in which mind, emotions, instincts, and consciousness are all lumped together, Sri Aurobindo strongly distinguishes between the \"Vital\" and the \"Mental\" faculties. This is divided into a higher and a lower as follows: Higher vital usually refers to the vital mind and emotive being as opposed to the middle vital which has its seat in the navel and is dynamic, sensational and passionate and the lower which is made up of the smaller movements of human life-desire and life-reactions... www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 4 The Vital

The Vital Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. February 2020. The lower vital as distinguished from the higher is concerned only with the small greeds, small desires, small passions, etc. which make up the daily stuff of life for the ordinary sensational man - while the vital-physical proper is the nervous being giving vital reflexes to contacts of things with the physical consciousness. (Sri Aurobindo Letters on Yoga vol. I pp.325, 326) * Mind and vital are two different processes of one consciousness. It [vital] means prāṇa—it is the life-force and desire-force in a man and the part of the being that responds to desire and is the instrument of the life-forces. The True Vital Being and Consciousness There is behind all the vital nature in man his true vital being concealed and immobile which is quite different from the surface vital nature. The surface vital is narrow, ignorant, limited, full of obscure desires, passions, cravings, revolts, pleasures and pains, transient joys and griefs, exultations and depressions. The true vital being on the contrary is wide, vast, calm, strong, without limitations, firm and immovable, capable of all power, all knowledge, all Ananda. It is moreover without ego, for it knows itself to be a projection and instrument of the Divine; it is the divine Warrior, pure and perfect; in it is an instrumental Force for all divine realisations. It is the true vital being that has become awake and come in front within you. In the same way there is too a true mental being, a true physical being. When these are manifest, then you are aware of a double existence in you; that behind is always calm and strong, that the surface alone is troubled and obscure. But if the true being behind remains stable and you live in it, then the trouble and obscurity remain only on the surface; in this condition the exterior parts can be dealt with more potently and they also made free and perfect. The true vital is in the inner consciousness; the external is that which is instrumental for the present play of Prakriti in the surface personality. When the change comes, the true vital rejects what is out of tune with its own truth from the external and makes it a true instrument for its expression, a means of expression of its inner will, not a thing of responses to the suggestions of the lower Nature. The strong distinction between the two practically disappears. The higher and lower [vital] are divisions of the ordinary vital and equally ignorant. It is the true vital that is in contact with the Divine. The true vital consciousness is one in which the vital makes full surrender, converts itself into an instrument of the Divine, making no demand, insisting on no desire, answering to the Mother's force and to no other, calm, unegoistic, giving an absolute loyalty and obedience, with no personal vanity or ambition, only willing to be a pure and perfect instrument, desiring nothing for itself but that the Truth may prevail within itself and everywhere and the Divine Victory take place and the Divine Work be done. It [the true vital] is capable of receiving the movements of the higher consciousness, and afterwards it can be capable of receiving the still greater supramental power and Ananda. If it is not, then the descent of the higher consciousness would be impossible and supramentalisation would be impossible. It is not meant that it possesses these things itself in its own right and that as soon as one is aware of the true vital, one gets all these things as inherent in the true vital. It is as I told you—only by losing ego and having the sense of the Infinite can one experience the true vital. So you got the experience of the loss of ego and the sense of a true vital existence. But there are all www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 5 The Vital

The Vital Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. February 2020. those parts of the human vital nature that are not the true vital and these are full of impurities which have to be thrown in the fire of aspiration burning in the true vital being. It [the illumined vital] is in contact with the Divine Power or the higher Truth and seeks to transform itself and become a true instrument—it rejects the ordinary vital movements. Parts of the Vital Being There are four parts of the vital being—first, the mental vital which gives a mental expression by thought, speech or otherwise to the emotions, desires, passions, sensations and other movements of the vital being; the emotional vital which is the seat of various feelings such as love, joy, sorrow, hatred, and the rest; the central vital which is the seat of the stronger vital longings and reactions, e.g. ambition, pride, fear, love of fame, attractions and repulsions, desires and passions of various kinds and the field of many vital energies; last, the lower vital which is occupied with small desires and feelings, such as make the greater part of daily life, e.g. food desire, sexual desire, small likings, dislikings, vanity, quarrels, love of praise, anger at blame, little wishes of all kinds—and a numberless host of other things. Their respective seats are (1) the region from the throat to the heart, (2) the heart (it is a double centre, belonging in front to the emotional and vital and behind to the psychic), (3) from the heart to the navel, (4) below the navel. he point about the emotional and the higher vital is a rather difficult one. In one classification in which mind is taken as some thing more than the thinking, perceiving and willing intelligence, the emotional can be reckoned as part of the mind, the vital in the mental. In another classification it is rather the most mentalised part of the vital nature. In the first case, the term higher vital is confined to that larger movement of the conscious life-force which is concerned with creation, with power and force and conquest, with giving and self-giving and gathering from the world for farther action and expenditure of power, throwing itself out in the wider movements of life, responsive to the greater objects of Nature. In the second arrangement, the emotional being stands at the top of the vital nature and the two together make the higher vital. As against them stands the lower vital which is concerned with the pettier movements of action and desire and stretches down into the vital physical where it supports the life of the more external activities and all physical sensations, hungers, cravings, satisfactions. The term lower must not be considered in a pejorative sense; it refers only to the position in the hierarchy of the planes. For although this part of the nature in earthly beings tends to be very obscure and is full of perversions,—lust, greed of all kinds, vanity, small ambitions, petty anger, envy, jealousy are its ordinary guests,—still there is another side to it which makes it an indispensable mediator between the inner being and the outer life. It is not a fact that every psychic experience embodies itself in a purified and rightly directed vital current; it does that when it has to externalise itself in action. Psychic experience is in itself a quite independent thing and has its own characteristic forms. The psychic being stands behind all the others; its force is the true soul-power. But if it comes to the front, it can suffuse all the rest; mind, vital, the physical consciousness can take its stamp and be transformed by its influence. When the nature is properly developed, there is a psychic in the mental, a psychic in the vital, a psychic in the physical. It is when that is there and strong, that we can say of someone that he evidently has a soul. But there are some in whom this element is so lacking that we have to use faith in order to believe that they have a soul at all. The centre of the psychic being is behind the centre of the emotional being; it is the emotional that is nearest dynamically to the psychic and in most men it is through the emotional centre that the psychic can be most easily reached and through the psychicised emotion that it can be most easily expressed. Many therefore mistake the one for the other; but there is a world of difference between the two. The emotions normally are vital in their character and not part of the psychic nature. It must be remembered that while this classification is indispensable for psychological self-knowledge and discipline and practice, it can be used best when it is not made too rigid and cutting a formula. For things run very much into each other and a synthetical sense of these powers is as necessary as the analysis. Mind for instance is everywhere. The physical mind is technically placed below the vital and yet it is a www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 6 The Vital

The Vital Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. February 2020. prolongation of the mind proper and can act in its own sphere by direct touch with the higher mental intelligence. And there is too an obscure mind of the body, of the very cells, molecules, corpuscles. Haeckel, the German materialist, spoke somewhere of the will in the atom, and recent Science, dealing with the incalculable individual variation in the activity of the electrons, comes near to perceiving that this is not a figure but the shadow thrown by a secret reality. This body-mind is a very tangible truth; owing to its obscurity and mechanical clinging to past movements and facile oblivion and rejection of the new, we find in it one of the chief obstacles to permeation by the supermind force and the transformation of the functioning of the body. On the other hand, once effectively converted, it will be one of the most precious instruments for the stabilisation of the supramental light and force in material Nature. (Letter on Yoga by Sri Aurobindo, from https://incarnateword.in/cwsa/28/the-vital-being-and-vital- consciousness) Vital Immobility After the anguish of the soul’s long strife At length were found calm and celestial rest And, lapped in a magic flood of sorrowless hours, Healed were his warrior nature’s wounded limbs In the encircling arms of Energie That brooked no stain and feared not their own bliss. (Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, Book II, Canto IX) The Mother defines vital immobility …And there is a very small superficial application of this which perhaps you will understand. Someone comes and insults you or says unpleasant things to you; and if you begin to vibrate in unison with this anger or this ill-will, you feel quite weak and powerless and usually you make a fool of yourself. But if you manage to keep within yourself, especially in your head, a complete immobility which refuses to receive these vibrations, then at the same time you feel a great strength, and the other person cannot disturb you. If you remain very quiet, even physically, and when violence is directed at you, you are able to remain very quiet, very silent, very still, well, that has a power not only over you but over the other person also. If you don’t have all these vibrations of inner response, if you can remain absolutely immobile within yourself, everywhere, this has an almost immediate effect upon the other person. (Collected Works of the Mother, vol. 8, p 67) Excerpt from Satprem’s Adventure of Consciousness …Behind this childish, restless, easily exhausted vital, we will find a quiet and powerful vital–what Sri Aurobindo calls the true vital–that contains the very essence of the Life Force devoid of its sentimental and painful by products. We enter a state of peaceful, spontaneous concentration, like the sea beneath the movement of the waves. This underlying stillness is not a dulling of the nerves, any more than mental silence is a numbing of the brain; it is a basis for action. It is a concentrated power capable of initiating any action, of withstanding any shock, even the most violent and prolonged, without losing its poise. Depending on the degree of our development, all kinds of new capacities can emerge from this vital immobility, but first of all we feel an inexhaustible energy; any fatigue is a sign that we have fallen back into the superficial turmoil. The capacity for work or even physical effort increases tenfold. Food and sleep are no longer the single and all-absorbing source of energy renewal. (The nature of sleep changes, as we will see, and food can be reduced to an hygienic minimum.) Other powers, often considered “miraculous,” may also manifest, but they are miracles with a method; we will not attempt to discuss them here, as it is better to experience them directly. Let us simply say that one who has become capable of www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 7 The Vital

The Vital Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. February 2020. controlling a certain vital vibration in himself is automatically capable of controlling the same vibration anywhere he meets it in the world. Further, in this stillness, another sign will appear permanently: the absence of suffering and a kind of inalterable joy. When an ordinary person receives a blow, whether physical or moral, his immediate reaction is to double up in pain; he contracts and begins to seethe inside, increasing the pain tenfold. On the contrary, the seeker who has established some immobility within himself will find that this immobility dissolves all shocks, because it is wide; because the seeker is no longer a small constricted person, but a consciousness overflowing the limits of its body. Like the silent mind, the quieted vital universalizes itself spontaneously: In yoga experience the consciousness widens in every direction, around, below, above, in each direction stretching to infinity. When the consciousness of the yogi becomes liberated, it is not in the body but in this infinite height, depth and wideness that he lives always. […] Finally, when we have mastered vital immobility, we find that we can begin to help others with some effectiveness. For helping others has nothing to do with sentimentality or charity; it is a matter of power, of vision, of joy. In this tranquillity, we possess not only a contagious joy but a vision that dispels the shadows. We spontaneously perceive all vibrations; and distinguishing what they are enables us to manipulate them, quiet them, avert or even alter them. Tranquillity, says Mother, is a very positive state; there is a positive peace which is not the opposite of strife–an active and contagious and powerful peace, which subdues and calms, straightens and puts things in their place. We will give an example of this “contagious peace”, although it belongs to a somewhat later stage in Sri Aurobindo’s life. It was in Pondicherry, many years ago, in the season when tropical rains and sometimes cyclones sweep down suddenly and bring devastation. Doors and windows have to be barricaded with thick bamboo laths. That night, a cyclone erupted with torrents of rain, and Mother hurried to Sri Aurobindo’s room to help him shut his windows. He was seated at his table, writing (for years Sri Aurobindo spent twelve hours a day writing, from six in the evening till six in the morning, then eight hours walking up and down “for the yoga”). The windows were wide open, but not a drop of rain had come inside his room. The peace that reigned there, recalls Mother, was so solid, so compact, that the cyclone could not enter. (Satprem, Adventure of Consciousness, Chapter on True Vital) * December – January Sunday Activities at the Centre - A glimpse January 5th 2020 – Readings from All India Magazine, August 2018, Return of the light We read a few passages from “Some Reminiscences and Anecdotes” In these passages Sri Aurobindo talks about his thoughts and feelings on certain aspects of his life and this was before coming to Pondicherry. For example, in the Passage, The Power of Prayer, he says not all prayers are answered by God like some automatic machinery. No hard and fast rule can be laid on the Power of prayer. His reminiscences about charm of Kashmir, Yogic cure, Students at Baroda just captures our heart and soul. Reading about his simple living with utmost rejection of vital pleasures, complete detachment from love for money and such a noble heart with complete equanimity really sends its vibes to our nature also. It is really amazing that right from his childhood he had the “Kavacham” (protective shield) of Brahmic consciousness that no luxury or glamour of western world dared to touch him. www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 8 The Vital

The Vital Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. February 2020. Thanks to Mr Ramachandran for bringing this AIM magazine for our reading and illuminating our heart and mind with Sri Aurobindo’s light! January 12th – Synthesis of Yoga Mr Rakesh took up the reading of passages from “The Synthesis of Yoga” by Sri Aurobindo. The Conditions of the Synthesis: Part 1- The Four Aids It talks about the four instruments which aid in the Yoga-Siddhi, which are; The knowledge of the Truth - Sastra. The persistent and patient action to follow the Sastras - Utsaha. The Teacher or Guru to uplift the sadhak to Spiritual experience. Kala - Time, the vehicle which has its own speed to reach the destination of purpose for every divine movement. The Eternal Sastra is already hidden in every being. It is like a beautiful butterfly hidden in the unsightly larvae. It seemingly meditates on its release from hard shell to become a beautiful butterfly with wings to suck the nectar from the fragrant flowers; the mind which meditates on the divine finally experiences the nectar of the Infinite. It is also necessary to have the grace of Divine touch to hasten the highest spiritual attainment by tearing the hard shell of worldly attraction. Divine touch is the Word given by a living Guru or that comes from within. It is also said that even Lord Krishna had the Guru Rishi Ghora and Ramakrishna accepted several gurus in different paths of yoga, though they were self-illuminated souls! Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita says that when your intelligence has passed out of the dense forest of delusion, you shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is to be heard. In Integral yoga, the sadhak has the freedom to accept new ways to attain the same truth, and certainly to go beyond what is said in the scriptures. January 19th – Synthesis of Yoga Mr Rakesh continued with the passages from “The Four Aids” Sri Aurobindo makes it clear that now mankind has reached a stage where the ancient Vedic fore-fathers’ Shastra are no longer applicable and mankind has been given a new liberty to follow his own path. Of course there should be a set of guiding lines to follow for the sadhaka. They are like sign posts to help orient the Sadhaka’s direction. Even Swami Vivekananda’s philosophical outlook insisted on mankind becoming unified by releasing himself from the clutches of a sect or religion. Each soul has the freedom to approach the divine in him following his own religion. Each man therefore, in effect, therefore has his own religions, or should have the freedom to have one. Each man is born with an impulse to find the Light and Bliss in him, but for the bud of aspiration to open up its petals and bloom, Sincerity and Surrender and Consecration through the inner guide are needed. I am here adding my thoughts to draw an analogy. Coming to food habits, my grandparents were very strict vegetarians in cooking only south Indian dishes without garlic and onions etc.. www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 9 The Vital

The Vital Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. February 2020. Later my parents became relaxed adding onions, on days when no festival or ancestor ceremonies were there. We became more liberal with cooking North Indian dishes, but strictly vegetarian. My Children are still more liberated cooking Italian and Mediterranean dishes but strictly vegetarian. Now to my utter surprise my granddaughter from America who visited us in the holidays has become a strict vegan influencing even my son. For a girl who loved to indulge in cakes and muffins and milk a few years ago, now she sees only the torture of the animals behind and no more the delight in eating them. So I can see the compassion and sympathy extending even to animals, breaking the long tradition of using milk as the sacred offering but going to the extent of influencing others to lessen the demand for them. So in my own time I am seeing the way how generations have paved their own path of religion or principles to follow and confidently too, not guilty about not visiting temples regularly or chanting stotras, though having full respect for them. January 26 - Meditations on Savitri We began with Book 1, Canto 3: The Yoga of the King: The Yoga of the Soul’s Release. We meditated on the words as The Mother recited selected lines from Savitri in 13 passages, with the accompanying symbolic pictures. The opening lines offered brilliant images of the strides that Aswapathy made in his yoga and brought down the Light that is Savitri, compelled by “A world’s desire”. The moments with the video was enchanting moments and each of us drew from the images according to our hearts’ reach, with gratitude. - Jayalakshmi and Jayanthy February Special The Mother’s 142nd Birth Anniversary, Auroville’s 52nd Birthday and, the Golden Day Sri Aurobindo: “There is one divine Force which acts in the universe and in the individual and is also beyond the individual and the universe. The Mother stands for all three, but she is working here in the body to bring down something not yet expressed in this material world so as to transform life here—it is so that you should regard her as the Divine Shakti working here for that purpose. She is that in the body, but in her whole consciousness she is also identified with all the other aspects of the Divine Force. (CWSA, Vol. 32, p. 70) What this “something not yet expressed in this material world” could be but the supramental force? Her mission to bring down the supramental was accomplished in the leap year 29th February 1956. Referring to that event, she wrote: “Lord, Thou hast willed, and I execute: A new light breaks upon the earth, A new world is born. The things that were promised are fulfilled.” (CWTM, Vol. 15, p.95) www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 10 The Vital

The Vital Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. February 2020. A question may be asked – “where is the new world, the new light”? The following words of Sri Aurobindo written by way of answer to a disciple’s quest for inner progress are interesting and relevant here. Sri Aurobindo: “You will say it is a mere candle that is lit—nothing at all? But in these matters, when the darkness of human mind and life and body has to be dissipated, a candle is always a beginning—a lamp can follow and afterwards a sun—but the beginning must be allowed to have a sequel… (CWSA, Vol.29, p.115) We can apply above words of Sri Aurobindo to Auroville as well. 50 years ago, Auroville too was “a mere candle” but, thanks to dedicated pioneering efforts of numerous individuals, today she has become a “lamp”. If we remain true to the spirit of Auroville, there is every possibility that in next 50 years Auroville will become “a sun” that helps tremendously to dissipate the “darkness of human mind and life and body”. (From News & Notes, 17 February 2018, A weekly bulletin for residents of Auroville, Number 737) The Golden Day Words of The Mother 29 February 1956 \"This evening the Divine Presence, concrete and material, was there present amongst you. I had a form of living gold, bigger than the universe, and I was facing a huge and massive golden door which separated the world from the Divine. As I looked at the door, I knew and willed, in a single movement of consciousness, that “the time has come”, and lifting with both hands a mighty golden hammer I struck one blow, one single blow on the door and the door was shattered to pieces. Then the supramental Light and Force and Consciousness rushed down upon earth in an uninterrupted flow.\" PROGRAMME FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 2020 DATE TIME DETAILS 8 AM Monthly Morning Walk ** 2 Feb 2020 6 PM AIM Magazine Reading and Discussion Sunday 9 Feb 2020 9AM – 12NN Centre Cleaning* Sunday 6 PM Thematic Study Circle by Rakesh: The Synthesis of Yoga www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 11 The Vital

The Vital 6 PM Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. February 2020. 16 Feb 2020 Thematic Study Circle by Rakesh: Sunday The Synthesis of Yoga 21 Feb 2020 9 AM The Mother’s 142nd Birth Anniversary Friday 7 PM The Mother’s 142nd Birth Anniversary 23 Feb 2020 4 PM Youth Programme Sunday 6 PM Savitri Circle by Mr. Ramadoss * Cleaning till 12nn, followed by Community Lunch. Please confirm attendance with Shailaja ** Please see below for details. February 2020 MORNING WALK – NO. 414 Date: Sunday, 2nd February 2020 Time: 8:00 A.M. sharp for warm up exercise. Walk Venue: East Coast Park Meeting Point: Road safety community park, car park B2 Contact No: Mrs Vrunda Patel (HP: 9820 6389) Hosts: Mrs. Nisha Maheswary & Family 12, Amber Gardens, # 12-07, King’s Mansion, Block B, Singapore 439959 RSVP: 64408443 (Res), 90229005, 90339505(HP), [email protected] Note: All are encouraged to attend the Walk. Those, however, who are not able to join the Walk, the hosts would be very happy that they directly come and join in the brunch by 10:15 AM. Prayers and meditation will commence sharp at 10.30 A.M. All are requested to be punctual. www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 12 The Vital

The Vital Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. February 2020. PREVIEW OF FORTHCOMING SUNDAY MORNING WALKS WALK NO DATE PLACE HOST 415 01/03/20 Pasir Ris Mr Anand K Venkat & Family 416 05/04/20 West Coast Park Mr S. Ramanathan & Family 417 03/5/20 East Coast Park Mr Ashok Patel & Mrs Bhakti Patel 418 07/6/20 Bedok Reservoir Mr. Anand Patel & Mrs Vrunda Patel Along the Way… January Walk Review (walk no 413) This month’s morning walk was held in Windsor Park. Located at Venus drive, the park was opened very recently in 2017 and boasted state of the art nature trails and walks. This was many people’s as well as my first time visiting the park. Since Windsor Park was quite new, coupled with the fact that many people wanted to stick to their New Year’s resolution, the park was very crowded, and it was quite hard to find good parking. It was very heartwarming to see people of all walks of life spend their time with one another on that Sunday morning. Thanks to the Mother’s grace the weather was pleasant and cool, despite the previous days and weeks of rain. Soon after 8 am, the walking group left the main entrance, and began the Society’s 413th walk. It had been quite some time since I had attended one of the walks and was pleased to see a nice turnout for the walk. However, since the Holidays were still going on for me, I encouraged my parents to attend the walk, hoping that we could make these walks part of our New Year’s resolutions. During the walk, we had gone through the “Drongo” and “Squirrel” trail. While walking, we were pleasantly greeted by a huge number of monkeys that were engaged in fighting one another. It was quite an amusing sight to see! Throughout the walk we enjoyed delightful weather, and everyone seemed to be enjoying. The serene and picturesque surroundings made the first walk of the decade all that more special. www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 13 The Vital

The Vital Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. February 2020. I would like to thank Swati Aunty and Kiran Uncle for hosting a wonderful mediation and tasty and sumptuous brunch. Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the walk. It gave me an opportunity to spend time with my family and talk to everyone. I can’t wait for next month’s walk! Wishing everyone a prosperous decade ahead. -Aakash Mehta The 2000 and 20th year started with a bang for the Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. On the 3rd of January 2020, the society members gathered at Windsor Nature Park for the monthly walk. The walk started with a few warm-up exercises and as many photos as we could fit in. Then the actual walking began. All of us decided to take the treetop walk as we felt that it would be the most enjoyable option. We walked through the trail talking between ourselves. The road went up and down the hills and was slightly uneven but it was nevertheless enjoyed by all. Soon we came across a troupe of monkeys in the trees and on the road. We watched them for a while until they noticed us and ran towards us. We decided to run away then, for fear of being attacked by the monkeys. After a while, we decided to turn back as it was getting late. No one was willing to miss the good food and meditation the hosts had to offer. We started back and soon reached the carpark from where we began, towards the location of the brunch. The after walk brunch was hosted by Kiran Uncle and Swathi Aunty at their home. We mingled with the other guests for a while before sitting down for meditation. After the birthdays were read, a song from the nutcracker was played for closing meditation, as a surprise. We then proceeded to the function hall to partake of the delicious Thai feast laid out before us. After eating our fill, we thanked our hosts and left with happy hearts and full stomachs. -Anjali Curic Printed and Published by The Sri Aurobindo Society of Singapore 2A Starlight Road 01-07, Singapore 217755. Saurab: 86559940 or [email protected]; Sanjay: 98750767 or [email protected]; Email: [email protected] Visit our website at: www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 14 The Vital