June 2016 Newsletter - Web

June 2016 SRI AUROBINDO SOCIETY VOL 30.06 Singapore Permit No. MCI (P) 069/01/2016 NEWSLETTER Mahashakti She is the golden bridge, the wonderful fire. The luminous heart of the unknown is she, A power of silence in the depths of God; - Savitri

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2016. Guiding Light of the Month “O MOTHER Divine, with what fervour, what ardent love I came to Thee in Thydeepest consciousness, in Thy high status of sublime love and perfect felicity, and Inestled so close into Thy arms and loved Thee with so intense a love that I became altogether Thyself.” The Mother, ‘Prayers and Meditations’ September 1, 1914 From the Editor’s DeskWe conclude with the series of themes we took up consciousness her many forms and qualities thatin relation to The Mother’s symbol with this operate in this vast existence that is Her making andedition of the newsletter. From the four inner petals Her playfield.representing Maheshwari, Mahakali, Mahalakshmiand Mahasaraswati into the twelve outermost Mahashakti is eminent everywhere, in all thepetals representing the forces emanating from elements of the creation, ruling over these whilethese powers, we now move inwards to the being eminent. Sri Aurobindo explains Mahashakti’sinnermost centre, representing the Mahashakti. In presence and workings as such, in Her three modesreferring to the parts of The Mother’s symbol, we of existence. Firstly, She is the original supremecommonly use the word, ‘petal’. There are, as Shakti, stands above the worlds and links the creationmentioned above, 4 inner petals and 12 outer to the ever unmanifest mystery of the Supreme.”petals. The Mother’s symbol is but the symbolic Next, She is the “Universal, cosmicdesign of the White Lotus, which represents Mahashakti…..creates all these beings and containsSupreme Consciousness. Mahashakti reigns and enters, supports and conducts all these millionsupreme in the centre of the Lotus. She is, processes and forces.” Lastly, he speaks of howaccording to The Mother, the form of the Mother Mahashakti, in her individual manifestation, bringsas universal creation or Divine Consciousness. She these two ways of being, “brings the powers of theseis Aditi, the One who is second to none. two vaster ways of her existence, makes them living and near to us and meditates between the humanWhat do all these mean in our earthly existence? personality and the divine Nature.”What is the place of the symbol in our lives? Wheredo we place the symbol, where hold it, and how Mahashakti, then, is not an entity who is out there,interpret? To the novice getting acquainted with looming far above and remote from us. Far from it,the symbol for the first time, the symbol offers She is the very substance of each being, living or not,hope that all the positive virtues do exist and some active or inert, and exerts Her force through her manycan be cultivated in one, or others built from the forms and emanations. The Mother is there in everystrength of the few virtues one may perceive to creation, working, through Her emanations andalready have in one’s possession. To another, it forces, to bring about Her manifestation in themay appear that these are virtues owned by the physical world.Great World Mother, and that it is possible for oneto bathe in different sets of lights as one invokes Can we know Her concretely, working in our ownthe presence of any one of the four emanations of being? As always, Sri Aurobindo casts his pearl ofthe Mahashakti – Maheshwari. Mahakali, wisdom in a concrete assurance. He says, “… youMahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati. To some, can come become aware when you enter into touchrightly, it is The Divine Mother Herself who is of oneness with the Conscious Force that upholds usrepresented by the symbol, in all the myriad forms and the universe.” It is for us now to ponder over thisof manifestation in the phenomenal world, even the profound statement and work out ways towards thisworld beyond. It is a reminder of her existence, the unfolding and knowing with Her alone for oursymbol, at once, upon sight, bringing to one’s Support and Guide.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 2

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2016. Savitri The Formless and the Formed were joined in her. Immensity was exceeded by a look, A Face revealed the crowded Infinite. At the head she stands of birth and toil and fate, In their slow round the cycles turn to her call; Alone her hands can change Time’s dragon base. Hers is the mystery the Night conceals; The spirit’s alchemist energy is hers; She is the golden bridge, the wonderful fire. (Book 3, Canto 2) O Wisdom-Splendour, Mother of the universe, Creatrix, the Eternal’s artist Bride, Linger not long with thy transmuting hand Pressed vainly on one golden bar of Time, As if Time dare not open its heart to God. (Book 3, Canto 4) Question of the monthQ: Do you not refer to the Mother (our Mother) in your book, “The Mother”?Sri Aurobindo: Yes.Q: Is she not the “Individual” Divine Mother who has embodied “the power of these two vasterways of her existence”―Transcendent and Universal?Sri Aurobindo: Yes.Q: Has she not descended here (amongst us) into the Darkness and Falsehood and Error andDeath in her deep and great love for us?Sri Aurobindo: Yes.Q: There are many who hold the view that she was human but now embodies the Divine Motherand her “Prayers”, they say, explain this view. But, to my mental conception, to my psychicfeeling, she is the Divine Mother who has consented to put on her the cloak of obscurity andsuffering and ignorance so that she can effectively lead us―human beings―to Knowledge andBliss and Ananda and to the Supreme Lord.Sri Aurobindo: The Divine puts on an appearance of humanity, assumes the outward humannature in order to tread the path and show it to human beings, but does not cease to be the Divine.It is a manifestation that takes place, a manifestation of a growing divine consciousness, not humanturning into divine. The Mother was inwardly above the human even in childhood, so the viewheld by “many” is erroneous.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 3

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2016.Q: I also conceive that the Mother’s “Prayers” are meant to show us―the aspiringpsychic―how to pray to the Divine.Sri Aurobindo: Yes.(SABCL, Volume 25, The Mother, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Puducherry) Divine Consciousness Emerging Oil on canvas, a painting by The Mother(Image sourced from www.motherandsriaurobindo.in) Mother of DreamsGoddess supreme, Mother of Dream, by thy ivory doors when thou standest,Who are they then that come down unto men in thy visions that troop, group upon group, downthe path of the shadows slanting?www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 4

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2016.Dream after dream, they flash and they gleam with the flame of the stars still around them;Shadows at thy side in a darkness ride where the wild fires dance, stars glow and glance and therandom meteor glistens;There are voices that cry to their kin who reply; voices sweet, at the heart they beat and ravish thesoul as it listens.What then are these lands and these golden sands and these seas more radiant than earth canimagine?Who are those that pace by the purple waves that race to the cliff-bound floor of thy jasper shoreunder skies in which mystery muses,Lapped in moonlight not of our night or plunged in sunshine that is not diurnal?Who are they coming thy Oceans roaming with sails whose strands are not made by hands, anunearthly wind advances?Why do they join in a mystic line with those on the sands linking hands in strange and statelydances?Thou in the air, with a flame in thy hair, the whirl of thy wonders watching,Holdest the night in thy ancient right, Mother divine, hyacinthine, with a girdle of beauty defended.Sworded with fire, attracting desire, thy tenebrous kingdom thou keepest,Starry-sweet, with the moon at thy feet, now hidden now seen the clouds between in the gloomand the drift of thy tresses.Only to those whom thy fancy chose, O thou heart-free, is it given to see thy witchcraft and feelthy caresses.Open the gate where thy children wait in their world of a beauty undarkened.High-throned on a cloud, victorious, proud I have espied Maghavan ride when the armies of windare behind him;Food has been given for my tasting from heaven and fruit of immortal sweetness;I have drunk wine of the kingdoms divine and have heard the change of music strange from a lyrewhich our hands cannot master;Doors have swung wide in the chambers of pride where the Gods reside and the Apsaras dance intheir circles faster and faster.For thou art she whom we first can see when we pass the bounds of the mortal,There at the gates of the heavenly states thou hast planted thy wand enchanted over the head of theYogin waving.From thee are the dream and the shadows that seem and the fugitive lights that delude us;www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 5

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2016.Thine is the shade in which visions are made; sped by thy hands from celestial lands come thesouls that rejoice for ever.Into thy dream-worlds we pass or look in thy magic glass, then beyond thee we climb out of Spaceand Time to the peak of divine endeavour.(SABCL, Volume 5, Collected Poems, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Puducherry) Like Mount FujiAn excerpt from chapter ‘Like Mount Fuji’, On the MotherIn answer to a pointed question as to how Mirra had struck the Okhawas when they knew her,whether they had seen then any indications of her vast spiritual reserves and her future divineministry at Pondicherry. Dr. Okhawa paused a little, and spoke slowly, as if carefully weighing hiswords:No...no ... we were too near her, we all lived in the same house for about a year we were toointimate ....You know Mount Fuji ... you can't appreciate it in full when you are very near, when you are tooclose ... some distance is needed ... from a distance, ah! it is grand, it is breath-taking, it is sublime!She was like Mount Fuji, Mirra was....After a significant pause, Dr. Okhawa added slowly:But even then, even forty years ago, I could see that Mirra was deeply mystical, she was oftenwithdrawn, with a faraway look, a look sometimes of infinite anxiety, sometimes of ecstatichappiness....And also - at the same time - Mirra was thoroughly scientific, thoroughly practical. That was anextraordinary combination....I can see that Pondicherry is a great spiritual centre today. I am not surprised ... I am happy!That was a marvellously sincere and marvellously accurate assessment. Dr. Okhawa seemed to bea little exhausted, and he quietly listened when Gokakand I described the Sri Aurobindowww.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 6

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2016.International Centre of ,Education that was coming up under the aegis of the Ashram and the directinspiration and guidance of the Mother.(‘On The Mother’, Chapter 12 – “Like Mount Fuji”, K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar, Sri AurobindoSociety, Pondicherry)(Image of Mount Fuji sourced from https://in.pinterest.com/pin/374572893986285763/) April - May Sunday Activities at the Centre- A glimpseApril 17th- Savitri, An Unending Journey:Meditation on “Savitri” with Huta’s Visuals: Book One, The Book of Beginnings, The Yoga ofthe King: The Yoga of The Soul’s Release-Pictures 1-7The summary of the lines in pictures from Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo is given below:.The growth of the world in evolution is a two-way process. It proceeds by an upward effort frombelow and a downward descent from above. The aspiration from the ascending Soul on earth callsfor a response from the Grace of the Divine that oversees from the supreme heights of the Spirit.When conditions on earth are ready for a next turn which cannot be effected without anintervention from the Divine or when they are helplessly heading towards chaos as a result of somewrong deviation, a pull is exerted by the aspiring will in creation and a special manifestation ofthe Divine takes place in answer to it. The Avatar appears.Such an aspiration from humanity focussed through the will of King Aswapathy brought a specialpuissance of the Divine Mother into human birth as Savitri.A miracle is always the result of an intervention of some element that transcends the existingscheme of things and its laws. It is abrupt too. There comes a sudden precipitation of a process, aworking that is proper to another scheme of organisation, into this world of ours governed by itsown laws. And it is because the happening is contrary to the operations natural to this plane ofexistence that it is called a miracle.This is precisely what happened in the case of Aswapathy. Something super-human, divine, cameinto the human frame of the king and he ceased to be merely human. Both the human and thedivine normally distinct and different in structure and functioning joined together.The natural limits of Aswapathy, the human person, got erased. The little, self-divided and self-centred ego-personality, usual to man, dissolved and he became one with the Divine Being. Allbounds mental, vital, subtle-physical had been acted upon and increasingly stretched by the Powerat work till they gave way and all divisions ceased. The consciousness formally confined to humanboundaries flowed out and joined the larger divine consciousness, of which it is in truth a segment.Aswapathy crossed the barrier of the physical consciousness which shuts off all the regions ofsubtler existence and found himself at the entrance of a new world which was guarded by thesentinel of the gods, the mystic serpent that allows no one to cross unless he has fulfilled theconditions demanded: the leaving behind of the all too human elements of desire and ego. To enterthe higher worlds we must cast away the legacies of the lower ones.There is a continuous struggle between the hosts of Darkness and the children of Light.The Asuras,the Rakshasas, the Demons and their brood of falsehood and egoism on the one hand and the Godsand their Powers of radiance on the other for the domination and possession of this creation of theDivine. And man, as the spear-head of this evolving manifestation, is the special centre of thisbattle. His life is a field for the concentrated projection of this universal combat, and a soul gainedor lost is a significant victory or setback for either side. At each moment of his life, man iswww.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 7

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2016.confronted with the choice between good and evil, with their protagonists ever on the watch toseize the situation.On this level of manifestation, all the truths formulated by the mind and warring with each otheron the lower planes of mentality converge into the one Truth of which they were the deflectedrays. All recover this element of truth in this fulfilling meeting. All ideas, which are really sparksof the One Reality caught and formulated in its conceptual mould by the mind as if they wereindependent truths, recover their source and fall into the right pattern.April 24th - Darshan Day - The Mother’s final arrival in Pondicherry:After the meditation music, Mr KV Rao read the Darshan day message of 24 April 2016.“We read, we try to understand, we explain, we try to know.But a single minute of true experience teaches us more than millions of words and hundreds ofexplanations.So the first question is: “How to have the experience?”To go within yourself, is the first step.And then, once you have succeeded in going within yourself deeply enough to feel the reality ofthat which is within, to widen yourself progressively, systematically, to become as vast as theuniverse and loose the sense of limitation.These are the first two preparatory movements.And these two things must be done in greatest possible calm, peace and tranquillity. This peace,this tranquillity brings about silence in the mind and stillness in the vital.This effort, this attempt must be renewed very regularly, persistently. And after a certain lapse oftime, which may be longer or shorter, you begin to perceive a reality that is different from thereality perceived in the ordinary, external consciousness.” - The MotherBut to silence the powerful vital needs a lot of will power!Then we went onto read the chapter “THE SEVEN HIDDEN YEARS” - from the book- THEMOTHER - THE STORY OF HER LIFE by the Author Georges Van Vrekhem which talks aboutthe initial years of the Mother’s experience in Pondicherry.May 1st - Reading from the AIM Magazine, February 2016 -Times of Transition:We focused on articles to relate how the state of humanity determines God’s treatment: ferociousfor the dull and obstinate material; gracious for the open and humble and wise. Yet even in thehammering of God and in the midst of destruction - a new world is prepared and will grow. Indeed,the greater the destruction, the greater the future creation. The next article discusses the specialdestiny of India which has preserved the truth of the ancient Satya Yuga as in a seed and in hersoul - and it is therefore awakening India which holds the key to humanity’s future: ‘In India alonecan the effective Avatar appear to the nations.'May 8th - Questions and Answers 1956, The Mother, 28th March 1956:“If a departure from the world and its activities, a supreme release and quietude were the sole aimof the seeker, the three great fundamental realisation would be sufficient for the fulfilment of hiswww.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 8

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2016.spiritual life: concentrated in them alone he could suffer all other divine or mundane knowledgeto fall away from him and himself disencumbered depart into the eternal silence. But he has to takeaccount of the world and its activities, learn what divine truth there may be behind them andreconcile that apparent opposition between the divine truth and the manifest creation which is thestarting point of most spiritual experience.”(The Synthesis of Yoga, p.110)Q: I don’t understand the meaning. Why is this opposition the starting point of the spiritualexperience?The Mother: When difficulties and disappointments push us into the realm of spirituality it isusually negative. But it can lead to positive need to know the Divine and unite with Him.And there are a few people who have the fortune of perfect inner and outer harmony and they feelno need to think of the divine.The pathway to real spiritual life is to see the indwelling thought of god in every atom and behindevery appearance and reconcile all oppositions. It is the ascent first and descent next to bring the“Moksha Samrajyam” (Self Realisation) on our beautiful Mother Earth!May 15th - The Secret of the Veda, by Sri AurobindoWe read pages 370 and 371 from, “The Doctrine of the Mystics”.Vedas have the high spiritual substance that was experienced by our Seers. But at a later time whenthey became abstract to the human mind, Upanishad was born with philosophical structure andmodified Veda with the intellect and logical dogma. But Vedas are still like a free flowing riverfree from any obstructing dams.The intellect even with mastering of all Upanishads cannot experience “THAT” which is beyondnames and forms though given many names and forms unless it breaks past the physical andmental consciousness and soars like Hansa ( the celestial bird) to merge with the Divine Lightwithin and without!On the lighter side, I feel it is like my granddaughter drawing sun god with dark glasses, moustacheand sun screen lotion thinking He is a human and protecting from His own rays!Reading the passages from the Secret of Veda, we experience an “Ananda” not found in my dryglimpse! - Jared and Jayalakshmi PROGRAMME FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE 2016DATE TIME DETAILS5th June 2016 8:00 AM Monthly Morning Walk * Sunday Reading from AIM Magazine5th June 2016 6:00 PM Sunday Q&A from Mother Complete works Volume 8 Followed by Om Choir12th June 2016 6:00 PM Sunday Study circle – Part 3 “The Secret of Veda” (pg. 393 – 556)19th June 2016 6:00 PM Sunday Savitri – An unending journey26th June 2016 6:00 PM Sunday* Please see below for details.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 9

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2016. JUNE 2016 MORNING WALK – NO. 370Date: Sunday, 5th June 2016Time: 8:00 A.M. sharp for warm up exercise Please note that after warm up exercise we shall proceed with the walk by 8.20 AM.Walk venue: Bedok ReservoirMeeting Point: Car park (directly opposite to the Aquarius by the Park condominium) at Bedok Reservoir Road, off Bedok North Avenue 3 exit of PIEDirection to Driving:Meeting Point: Those driving along PIE (heading from the city towards airport) take PIE Exit No. 6 and turn right to Bedok North Ave. At T-junction, turn right on to Bedok Reservoir Road and immediately enter Car Park on your left. MRT: Alight at Bedok MRT and take bus. No 67 to Opp Clearwater Condo (bus stop no. 74341) Bus Take Bus no. 5, 18, 21, 22, 28, 59, 65, 67, 69, 168 and alight at bus stop for The Clearwater Condo (bus stop no. 74341 or 75349) OR Take Bus no. 66, 228, 506 and alight at bus stop for Waterfront Key Condo (bus stop no. 84601 / 84609)Contact No: Mr S. Ramanathan (91385130)Hosts: M/s. Anand and Vrunda PatelRSVP Blk 3, Tanah Merah Kechil Road,Information: # 02-05, The Tanamera, Singapore 466664. (Very near Tanah Merah MRT station) Please RSVP to the hosts by email: patelanand456@hotmail or SMS 98307621 (Anand Patel) or 98206389 (Vrunda Patel) not later than 3rd June 2016, if you are able to make it for the walk and brunch (including the no. of persons attending)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 to the residence and join in the brunch by10:15 AM. Prayers and meditation will commence sharp at 10.30 A.M. All are requested to bepunctual.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 10

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2016. PREVIEW OF FORTHCOMING SUNDAY MORNING WALKSWALK DATE PLACE HOST NO 371 03/07/2016 TBA Mr Sanjay Mehta & Mrs Ami Mehta 07/08/2016 Botanical Gardens Mr Venkatesh Rao & Mrs Shailaja 372 04/09/2016 02/10/2016 TBA Mr. Arjun Madan 373 Gardens by the Bay Mr Sashi Lal Kashyap & Family 374 Along the Way…The wonderful tradition of a monthly walk followed by meditation and brunch has led to over 300walks without any break so far. Young and old members alike walk together in warm camaraderie.Isn’t it simply wonderful?\"People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle isnot to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in amiracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curiouseyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle.\"- Thich Nhat HanhOn 1st May 2016, we gathered for a walk at the ECP. Although the group turned out to be tiny,comprising of only three walkers, their enthusiasm was not dampened by the warm and sultryweather.We set off along the clean walking path meandering along the sea. The park seemed to be buzzingwith fellow walkers, joggers, campers, cyclists. We had to be careful lest we bumped intosomeone!The warm yellow morning sun beckoned from the blue sky. The faintly cool breeze from acrossthe azure sea waters nudged gently. Birds sang out from amidst the bright green leaves of the trees.The sea waves churned into white foam and hit the shores.This part of the ECP was in direct line of the flight path that airplanes use for descent to Singapore.It was fun to see the planes coming lower and lower until at one point I felt as if I could put up myhand overhead to almost touch one.We walked for almost an hour before we decided to retrace our steps. Just at that moment wegladly welcomed another walker who had braved the heat to join the walk. The hosts too laterjoined the party to escort us back to their home.It was delightful to meet all the friends who had gathered for meditation. In the peaceful ambienceof the Patel residence. We all warmly remembered Mr. Patel and his innumerable wonderfulqualities. Cute baby Anushna Rao was introduced to her admiring audience even as she sleptblissfully. The walk ended on a note of gratitude to The Mother and Sri Aurobindo for guiding usnow and in the future.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 11

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2016. We express our thanks to Archana and Upasana and their husbands for superbly managing the walk in the absence of their parents (Mr. Ashok & Mrs. Bhakti Patel) who had to leave for overseas due to a family emergency. We look forward to the next month’s walk and hope more members will join with full gusto to fully enjoy the benefits of walking and resultant good health. “Jack Lalanne once said walking was the king of exercises. He is right in that walking improves not only our mood, but our endurance and strength as well. Walking keeps the joints lubricated and nourished, strengthening the ligaments and tendons throughout our ankles, hips and knees. Walking works to strengthen our heart and lungs by increases in our respiratory and heart rates.” - Anju Aditya ANNOUNCEMENTS \"Good health is the exterior expression of an inner harmony\" - The MotherThe above saying by The Mother plants in us the seeds of aspiration for good health. Wishing to nurturethese seeds into strong trees, the editorial team has decided to explore the subject of 'Health and Healing'in the light of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo and base it as the theme for forthcoming issues of theNewsletter. We welcome readers to this exploration and invite them to share their views and experienceson the same. The article can be written as a word document and e-mailed to [email protected],[email protected] and [email protected] best by 12th of the previous month. 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.sgwww.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 12