SAS September 2017 Newsletter

September 2017 SRI AUROBINDO SOCIETY VOL 31.09 Singapore Permit No. MCI (P) 071/01/2017 NEWSLETTER The Mother, in Savitri Immortal Love shall beat his glorious wingsBotanical Name: Punica GranatumCommon Name: PomegranateSpiritual Significance: Divine Love O Wisdom-Splendour, Mother of the universe, Creatrix, the Eternal’s artist Bride, O radiant fountain of the world’s delight World-free and unattainable above, Mission to earth some living form of thee. One moment fill with thy eternity, Savitri, Sri Aurobindo Let thy infinity in one body live, All-Knowledge wrap one mind in seas of light, All-Love throb single in one human heart. -

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. September 2017. Guiding Light of the Month“It is the harmony of boundless Love, Love victorious over all suffering and all obscurity.By this law of Love, Thy law, I want to live more and more integrally; to it unreservedly I give myself. And all my being exults in an inexpressible Peace.” The Mother, ‘Prayers and Meditations’ July 23, 1913 From the Editor’s DeskThe September issue of the Newsletter turns its purpose in life. If one were to take a cursory glance at the way the poem is organised, it becomes clear thatattention towards The Divine Mother withreverence, having dealt with Sri Aurobindo’s yoga Ashwapathy’s Yoga and Savitri’s Yoga are givenlived out in the epic, ‘Savitri’ through equal treatment and exposure and proceed alongsideAshwapathy, King and Savitri’s human father.Savitri stands too as a symbol of The Mother’s each other like two majestic rivers, from the source to the destination.sadhana, as she hews with Him, a path in the virgin The book opens with the eternal quest placed beforeforest, overcoming obstacles presented by nature Savitri, the issue at hand clarified and then beginsplaced along her path and in working out the Ashwapathy’s Yoga. Then from Part 2, Book 4descent of the Supreme Spirit down onto earth and onwards, Savitri’s life and journey from birth to thetransforming matter. In her own words, The Savitri, in The World Mother’s guise unfolds, whereMother says, “It is my sadhana which He has she finally vanquishes Death in a debate that ensuesworked out. Each object, each event, each between the two. A new world of wonder, mystery and even joyous anticipation fills us as we open therealization, all the descriptions, even the coloursare exactly what I saw and the words, phrases are pages before us, as we approach Savitri, with the knowledge that it is The Mother’s Yoga that isalso exactly what I heard.” In fact, this associationof The Mother in Savitri was so astute that The worked out in the epic poetry through Savitri. Each page becomes a secret door that opens into a cave ofMother noted that what Sri Aurobindo read out toher in the morning of what he wrote in the night discoveries or leads into treasure troves lying further and further ahead. There are portions thereinwas exactly what she would have seen, livedthrough during her experiences of the night. In the incomprehensible in their magnitude which lay the road to higher realisations in us, if only the true callwords of The Mother, “It is my experiences Hehad presented at length and they were His is in us, the call of the soul to open to this yoga, and walk the path hewn by Her and Sri Aurobindo. Thisexperiences also. It is, moreover, the picture ofOur joint adventure into the unknown or rather is The Mother’s advise to Her children, “What you cannot do normally, you can do with the help ofinto the Supermind.” With this information in ourhand, Saviri then becomes quite another Savitri.”experience for the children of Sri Aurobindo andThe Mother; Savitri becomes alive with the Reading Savitri, alongside The Mother’s Prayers andconsciousness of the Dual-Masters-in-One we Meditation and Sri Aurobindo’s The Mother, bringsadore, revere, cherishing the hope, in the end, tochart out our path in life after life towards the us closer to the Mystery that is The Mother. She waitsTruth about existence and our purpose in it and to for us to turn, even a little towards Her, with sincerity,realize and actualize that all ready to seize us and engulf us with Her Love. Such is the presence of The Mother in Savitri.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 2

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. September 2017. Savitri, a journey of Love and Light The Book of the Divine Mother The Mother’s presence A Being intimate and unnameable, A wide compelling ecstasy and peace Felt in himself and all and yet ungrasped, Approached and faded from his soul’s pursuit As if for ever luring him beyond. Near, it retreated; far, it called him still.We can become aware of the existence and presence of the universal Shakti in the various forms ofher power. At present we are conscious only of the power as formulated in our physical mind,nervous being and corporeal case sustaining our various activities. But if we can once get beyondthis first formation by some liberation of the hidden, recondite, subliminal parts of our existence byYoga, we become aware of a greater life force, a pranic Shakti, which supports and fills the bodyand supplies all the physical and vital activities - for the physical energy is only a modified form ofthis force, and supplies and sustains too from below all our mental action. This force we feel inourselves also, but we can feel it too around us and above, one with the same energy in us, and candraw it in and down to aggrandise our normal action or call upon and get it to pour into us. It is anillimitable ocean of Shakti and will pour as much of itself as we can hold into our being. A Being formless, featureless and mute That knew itself by its own timeless self, Aware for ever in its motionless depths, Uncreating, uncreated and unborn, The One by whom all live, who lives by none, An immeasurable luminous secrecy Guarded by the veils of the Unmanifest, Above the changing cosmic interlude Abode supreme, immutably the same, A silent Cause occult, impenetrable, — Infinite, eternal, unthinkable, alone.The Shakti in this higher status reveals itself as the presence or potentiality of the infinite existence,consciousness, will, delight and when it is so seen and felt, the being turns towards it in whateverway, with its adoration or its will of aspiration or some kind of attraction of the lesser to the greater,to know it, to be full of and possessed by it, to be one with it in the sense and action of the wholenature. But at first while we still live in the mind, there is a gulf of division or else a double action.The mental, vital and physical energy in us and the universe is felt to be a derivation from thesupreme Shakti, but at the same time an inferior, separated and in some sense another working. Thereal spiritual force may send down its messages or the light and power of its presence above us tothe lower levels or may descend occasionally and even for a time possess, but it is then mixed withthe inferior workings and partially transforms and spiritualises them, but is itself diminished andaltered in the process. There is an intermittent higher action or a dual working of the nature. ***www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 3

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. September 2017. Faith and Surrender A Mother Might brooded upon the world; A Consciousness revealed its marvellous front Transcending all that is, denying none: Imperishable above our fallen heads He felt a rapturous and unstumbling Force.The one original transcendent Shakti, the Mother stands above all the worlds and bears in her eternalconsciousness the Supreme Divine. Alone, she harbours the absolute Power and the ineffablePresence; containing or calling the Truths that have to be manifested, she brings them down fromthe Mystery in which they were hidden into the light of her infinite consciousness and gives them aform of force in her omnipotent power and her boundless life and a body in the universe. TheSupreme is manifest in her for ever as the everlasting Sachchidananda, manifested through her inthe worlds as the one and dual consciousness of Ishwara-Shakti and the dual principle of Purusha-Prakriti, embodied by her in the Worlds and the Planes and the Gods and their Energies and figuredbecause of her as all that is in the known worlds and in unknown others. All is her play with theSupreme; all is her manifestation of the mysteries of the Eternal, the miracles of the Infinite. All isshe, for all are parcel and portion of the divine Conscious-Force. Nothing can be here or elsewherebut what she decides and the Supreme sanctions; nothing can take shape except what she moved bythe Supreme perceives and forms after casting it into seed in her creating Ananda. All Nature dumbly calls to her alone To heal with her feet the aching throb of life And break the seals on the dim soul of man And kindle her fire in the closed heart of things.The faith in the divine Shakti must be always at the back of our strength and when she becomesmanifest, it must be or grow implicit and complete. There is nothing that is impossible to her whois the conscious Power and universal Goddess all-creative from eternity and armed with the Spirit’somnipotence. All knowledge, all strengths, all triumph and victory, all skill and works are in herhands and they are full of the treasures of the Spirit and of all perfections and siddhis. She isMaheshwari, goddess of the supreme knowledge, and brings to us her vision for all kinds andwidenesses of truth, her rectitude of the spiritual will, the calm and passion of her supramentallargeness, her felicity of illumination; she is Mahakali, goddess of the supreme strength, and withher are all mights and spiritual force and severest austerity of Tapas and swiftness to the battle andthe victory and the laughter, the aṭṭahāsya, that makes light of defeat and death and the powers ofthe ignorance: she is Mahalakshmi, the goddess of the supreme love and delight, and her gifts arethe spirit’s grace and the charm and beauty of the Ananda and protection and every divine andhuman blessing: she is Mahasaraswati, the goddess of divine skill and of the works of the Spirit, andhers is the Yoga that is skill in works, yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam, and the utilities of divine knowledgeand the self-application of the spirit to life and the happiness of its harmonies. And in all her powersand forms she carries with her the supreme sense of the masteries of the eternal Ishwari, a rapid anddivine capacity for all kinds of action that may be demanded from the instrument, oneness, aparticipating sympathy, a free identity, with all energies in all beings and therefore a spontaneousand fruitful harmony with all the divine will in the universe. The intimate feeling of her presenceand her powers and the satisfied assent of all our being to her workings in and around it is the lastperfection of faith in the Shakti. ***www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 4

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. September 2017. Bliss and Delight A Bliss, a Light, a Power, a flame-white Love Caught all into a sole immense embrace; Existence found its truth on Oneness’ breast And each became the self and space of all.It is as the immanent, silent Self in all that the foundation of this cosmic consciousness can most easilybe laid by the mental being, the Witness pure and omnipresent who regards all the activity of the universeas the Conscious Soul of the cosmos, Sachchidananda for whose delight universal Nature displays theeternal procession of her works. We are aware of an unwounded Delight, a pure and perfect Presence,an infinite and self-contained Power present in ourselves and all things, not divided by their divisions,not affected by the stress and struggle of the cosmic manifestation, within it all even while superior to itall. A vast Truth-Consciousness took up these signs To pass them on to some divine child Heart That looked on them with laughter and delight And joyed in these transcendent images Living and real as the truths they house.The general power of Delight is love and the special mould which the joy of love takes is the vision ofbeauty. The God-lover is the universal lover and he embraces the All-blissful and All-beautiful. Whenuniversal love has seized on his heart, it is the decisive sign that the Divine has taken possession of him;and when he has the vision of the All-beautiful everywhere and can feel at all times the bliss of hisembrace, that is the decisive sign that he has taken possession of the Divine. Union is the consummationof love, but it is this mutual possession that gives it at once the acme and the largest reach of its intensity.It is the foundation of oneness in ecstasy. A music of griefless things shall weave her charm; The harps of the Perfect shall attune her voice, The streams of Heaven shall murmur in her laugh, Her lips shall be the honeycombs of God, Her limbs his golden jars of ecstasy, Her breasts the rapture-flowers of Paradise. She shall bear Wisdom in her voiceless bosom, Strength shall be with her like a conqueror’s sword And from her eyes the Eternal’s bliss shall gaze. A seed shall be sown in Death’s tremendous hour, A branch of heaven transplant to human soil; Nature shall overleap her mortal step; Fate shall be changed by an unchanging will.The supramental change is a thing decreed and inevitable in the evolution of the earth-consciousness;for its upward ascent is not ended and mind is not its last summit. But that the change may arrive, takeform and endure, there is needed the call from below with a will to recognise and not deny the Lightwhen it comes, and there is needed the sanction of the Supreme from above. The power that mediatesbetween the sanction and the call is the presence and power of the Divine Mother. The Mother’s powerand not any human endeavour and tapasya can alone rend the lid and tear the covering and shape thevessel and bring down into this world of obscurity and falsehood and death and suffering Truth and Lightand Life divine and the immortal’s Ananda.(Passages taken from The Mother, Synthesis of Yoga and Savitri by Sri Aurobindo, Sri AurobindoAshram Trust, Puducherry)www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 5

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. September 2017. The Mother of Truth, Love and LightAt the heart of all creation SandhyaResides Truth, unveiled, pure.Creator of the universe is She,She is Truth, Satyarupa.As the essence of all beauty,Flows the river of Love, enriching.Mother of the universe is She,She is Love, Premarupa.As the source of all glory,Showers the flame of white Light, blissful.Radiance of the universe is She,She is Light, ParanJyoti.A world of Truth, Love and LightShe has taken to reside,She is The Mother of the world,Showering rays of graceOn the flowers of paradise.*The words in Italics are from Lalitha Sahasranamam.*Picture is a Tanjore art work of Sweet Mother, Golden Mahalakshmi by Sandhyawww.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 6

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. September 2017. Life must blossom like a flower offering itself to the DivineThe Mother embraces all earth in her arms and has set the progression towards the Truth as its nobleaim. In order to hasten the progress, time and again, she sends forth glorious lights on earth.In the history of earth, there have been many such lives, those that were and still are a music ofKrishna’s light. They are lives offered at the feet of Krishna and in living so, they spreadbreadcrumbs1 on the path for others to follow on. The story of Aandaal in southern India is one suchlife. Mirabai of Rajasthan lived devotion, her songs bring Krishna into our midst. Sweet Mother’slife is also one such life. She is Mahalakshmi who has come on earth and created a whole new worldfor us to be in. Like Aandaal’s paasurams, are Mirabai’s songs on Krishna and so are Mother’sprayers and meditations.Mother lived a spiritually conscious life right from her childhood. Her experiences were many, herrecords give a beautiful narration of them. India was a place that was so dear to her heart. She wasled to come to India where she met Sri Aurobindo, and in him she saw the Krishna who had beenguiding her life. She offered herself at Sri Aurobindo’s feet and continued on to do his work for theworld.Growing up with The Mother and learning with The Mother are beautiful books that bring in us agrowing attachment with The Mother. In this process, we can enrich ourselves with skills that willexpress our devotion and enable us to share it with others - be it in music, poetry or painting or anyother form of fine arts. By offering our works to her, we participate in Mother’s project of bringingthe earth a step closer to the Truth.In Savitri, Book of Divine Mother is a hymn on The Mother by Sri Aurobindo. It is a chant thatglorifies her splendor and invokes her presence. “One shall descend and break the iron law” hesings, in Vision and the Boon, to mark the grant bestowed by The Mother to send a light of hers onearth. The light is indeed Savitri, who is led to discover the Truth of her being and live the same forthe world. All her life is a blossoming like a flower offering itself to the Divine. Sandhya*The word ‘breadcrumbs’ is a terminology used in Software Engineering context of user interfacedesign where a web page shows the path of navigation. It is also from the story of Hansel and Gretelwhere it is said that they scatter breadcrumbs on the path they travel in order to remember the way.*Title is a quote by the Mother. July - August Sunday Activities at the Centre - A glimpseJuly 23rd and July 30th – Rig Veda and SavitriJared Quek is back with us with penetrating insights gained from his Rig Veda studies at Oxford as wellas from the weekly meets at Sri Aurobindo Society in London. He has initiated a new delightful twist toour ‘Secrets of Veda’ sessions nudging us to comb passages of Savitri to unearth the hidden links to RigVeda. We were presented with the Rig Veda Manadala 1, Sukta 1 on Agni, of course with one set of SriAurobindo’s translations among the 14 or so he had compiled; the same sheet also displayed a fewpassages from Savitri Book 2, Conto 12, ‘The Heavens of the Ideal’.Agni-Fire-Flame takes on numerous significant roles such as the aspect of sacrifice, Divine Will, ChiefPriest/controller/summoner/Protector/Supporter/ Enjoyer of the offerings and much, much more.Krishnamoorthy uncle read a short passage from Vishnu Sahasranamam and its translation closelywww.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 7

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. September 2017.reflecting these roles of Agni in Yagna (offering). In fact, Agni takes on Transcendal, Universal andIndividual aspects.“Agni is at once a fire of aspiration, a fire of purification, a fire of Tapasya, a fire of transformation”Sri AurobindoIf we trace the origin of pure flame, we reach the heart of Divine Mother’s Love; this is explained byMother with respect to the following lines from Savitri“The great stars burn with my unceasing fireAnd life and death are both its fuel made.Life only was my blind attempt to love:Earth saw my struggle, heaven my victory (Savitri, Book 10, Conto 3)… it is the principle of Love that is transformed into flame and finally into light. It isn’t the principle ofLight that is transformed into flame when it materializes: it’s the flame that is transformed into light.The great stars give light because they burn; they burn because they are under the effect of Love…” (Mother’s Agenda, Vol. 6, September 8, 1965, pp. 235-238)Aswapaty also feels the flame discovery in the Divine Mother’s ‘House of the Spirit and the NewCreation’“The great world-rhythms were heart-beats of one Soul,To feel was a flame-discovery of God” (Savitri, Book 3, Conto 3)Coming back to the passages from ‘The Heavens of the Ideal’ Conto Jared presented, Aswapaty iscontinuing his journey on the “Mighty kingdoms of the Deathless Flame” with several references to thecommon Vedic imagery such as Sacrifice, ‘Altar Mind’, Priests, ‘Day and Dusk’, ‘Illumined Might’(Hero Power or consciousness force), Ascending Force and the list continues.We also discussed about the infinite possibilities and the complex nature of the experience of Divinedelight; Jared highlighted that this experience aspect should not be confused with the multiple practicalpathways which could be simple or complicated. The experiences of Vedic Rishis were not intellectualbut powerful and concrete imagery of Transcendental powers. We were all encouraged to read the 14-page introduction to the Secret of Vedas by Sri Aurobindo in ‘The Doctrine of the Mystics”http://saccs.org.in/texts/sriaurobindo/-sa-doctrine-mystics.phpWe also tried to figure out some of the aspects of Savitri far beyond the view of Vedas. Savitri’s mostpowerful pose with the transcendental vision of Victorious Truth in front of the Lord of Death (Yama)came to mind. Krishna’s Vishwaroopa Darshan to Arjuna was Universal (Overmental) vision with bothpositive and negative aspects shown to address the developmental needs of the vital Man; whereas,Savirti’s integral transcendental vision, as an incarnation of Divine Mother, sees no evil and considerseven Death as her deputy God serving a Divine purpose – during the transition period until the immortalSuper Man is born. It is the Marvel vision of Sarvam Brahma. Savitri transforms Yama into being ofLight in the Everlasting Day.This reminds us of how Joss Brooks transformed the polluted Adayar river banks to a beautiful park inhis own humble way (reference to July 14th slide show at our centre); negative is not opposite of positive;negative conceals what is missing to make our view whole.Savitri is revealed as the Divine Flame and Divine Mother incarnation in infinite dimensions right fromthe Symbol of Dawn, through the birth and growth of flame of Quest and beyond victory over God ofDeath. Let us all spare some time to enjoy the five poises of Savitri as portrayed by Sri Aurobindo asalluded to during our discussions:www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 8

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. September 2017. 1. The prophetic vision given by Mother as a Boon to Aswapaty’s Yoga 2. As seen by Aswapaty’s subtle vision (Telepathy) when Savitri approaches him in the palace 3. Narad’s Trikala Drishti when he sees Savitri on her return after meeting Satyavan 4. An amalgamated earthly and overmental Divine vision in the Symbol of Dawn conto in the opening 5. Transcendental vision beyond Lord Krishna's Vishwaroopa Darshan as the Divine Mother incarnation as detailed aboveSimilarly, the Savitri passages Jared presented from ‘The Heavens of the Ideal’ conto form just one outof the several views Aswapaty reveals during his mystic voyage on the world stairs; this part specificallyreflects the traditional journey in timelessness aspiring towards heaven or moksha shunning thechallenges of earthly life. The goal of our Integral Yoga is to make our earth a heaven calling for verticalunification of Superconscient with Subconscient and horizontal unification of Individual with theUniversal. It emphasizes striving to go deeper within to release the involved forces and through tripletransformation bring down the transcendental Shakti and Cosmic Prakriti powers to play ‘our role in thewhole’ - bringing out knowledge out of ignorance, beauty out of chaos and dynamic delight out ofpain/suffering. This process has been made simpler for us through the untiring sacrifices of SriAurobindo and Divine Mother in bringing down the Supramental Light, Force, Love and NewConsciousness to our Earth. Our Psychic flame can guide our accelerated progress enabling doubleopening both below and above in us creating an Integral Flame (Agni) pathway to progress beyond theclutches of fate, time and even death.“Without Agni the sacrificial flame cannot burn on the altar of the soul. That flame of Agni is the seven-tongued power of the Will, a Force of God instinct with Knowledge. This conscious and forceful will isthe immortal guest in our mortality, a pure priest and a divine worker, the mediator between earth andheaven. It carries what we offer to the higher Powers and brings back in return their force and light andjoy into our humanity” Sri AurobindoAugust 6th – Reading from AIM: Mother and Sri Aurobindo on themselvesWe read beautiful passages of Mother on Sri Aurobindo and Sri Aurobindo on the Mother. The key takeaway was:\"The Mother's consciousness and mine are the same, the one Divine Consciousness in two, because thatis necessary for the play. Nothing can be done without her knowledge and force, without herconsciousness- if anybody feels her consciousness, he should know that I am there behind it and if hefeels me it is the same with hers. If a separation is made like that ( I leave aside the turns which theirminds so strongly put upon these things), how can the Truth establish itself- for the Truth there is nosuch separation. \" - Sri Aurobindo.August 13th - Questions and Answers 1956 by The MotherThe attendance was thin with just 6 members. Mr. Krishnamurthy randomly selected page 88 and thequestion to Sweet Mother appeared “What does Sri Aurobindo mean by ‘a self-dynamisingmeditation’?”We discussed the aspect of ‘Sarvam Brahma’ and how He, The Supreme One seeks dynamic delightthrough the infinite Many; how we can play the role in the whole through the strings of our mind andsong waves of our life both created out of the knowledge coming out of the occult clay of seemingignorance.We also touched on the Karma Yoga and Gnana Yoga aspects in relation to the dynamism of meditationand as to how each and every act can be traced to reveal Brahman, Divine Mother, Time-Space, SuperMind, Objective Truth, Subjective Truth, Mind, Life, Materialization and dynamic delight of the Divine.Then we read the All revealing Mother’s answer. Self-Dynamising meditation is a meditation that hasthe power of transforming your being. It is a meditation which makes you progress, as opposed to staticmeditation which is immobile and relatively inert, and which changes nothing in your consciousness orin your way of being.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 9

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. September 2017.Generally, people don’t have a dynamic meditation. When they enter into meditation—or at least whatthey call meditation— they enter into a kind of immobility where nothing stirs, and they come out of itexactly as they went in, without any change either in their being or in their consciousness. And the moremotionless it is, the happier they are. They could meditate in this way for eternities, it would neverchange anything either in the universe or in themselves. That is why Sri Aurobindo speaks of a dynamicmeditation which is exactly the very opposite. It is a transforming meditation.I think it is the aspiration that should be different, the attitude should be different. “Different way”—what do you mean by “way”—(laughing) the way of sitting?... Not that? The inner way?Yes. But for each one it is different. I think the most important thing is to know why one meditates; thisis what gives the quality of the meditation and makes it of one order or another.You may meditate to open yourself to the divine Force, you may meditate to reject the ordinaryconsciousness, you may meditate to enter the depths of your being, you may meditate to learn how togive yourself integrally; you may meditate for all kinds of things. You may meditate to enter into peaceand calm and silence—this is what people generally do, but without much success. But you may alsomeditate to receive the Force of transformation, to discover the points to be transformed, to trace outthe line of progress. And then you may also meditate for very practical reasons: when you have adifficulty to clear up, a solution to find, when you want help in some action or other. You may meditatefor that too.I think everyone has his own mode of meditation. But if one wants the meditation to be dynamic, onemust have an aspiration for progress and the meditation must be done to help and fulfil this aspirationfor progress. Then it becomes dynamic. - Ramadoss and Shailaja PROGRAMME FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER 2017DATE TIME DETAILS3rd Sep 2017 8 AM Monthly Morning walk. * Sunday Concentration and Meditation3rd Sep 2017 6 PM Sunday Thematic Study Circle Part I ‘Doctrine of the Mystics’ from The Secret of the Veda10th Sep 2017 6 PM Sunday Thematic Study Circle Part II ‘Doctrine of the Mystics’ from The Secret of the Veda17th Sep 2017 6 PM Sunday Youth Programme Sri Aurobindo and Science Fiction24th Sep 2017 4 PM Sunday Savitri – An unending Journey24th Sep 2017 6 PM Swami Vivekananda’s message for Today Sunday A talk by Prof. S. Mohanty28th Sep 2017 7:00 PM - 8:30 Sri Aurobindo and the Challenges of the modern world Thursday PM A talk by Prof S. Mohanty30th Sep 2017 6:00 PM – 8:00 A Memorable moment in human history A talk by Prof. S. MohantySaturday PM Sri Aurobindo’s major works – A bird’s eye view1st Oct 2017 6:00 PM – 8:00 A talk by Prof. S. MohantySunday PM3rd Oct 2017 7:00 PM – 8:30 Tuesday PM* Please see below for details.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 10

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. September 2017. SEPTEMBER 2017 MORNING WALK – NO. 385Date: Sunday, 3rd September 2017Time: 8:00 A.M. sharp for warm up exercise. We shall proceed with the walk by 8.20 AM without waiting for anyone. Those who would like to join late for the walk may proceed directly to the walk venueWalk Venue: Bedok ReservoirMeeting Point: Car park opposite to Aquarius by the Park condo. This car park is along Bedok Reservoir roadContact No: Mr C Krishnamurthy (8453 2656)Directions to Bus: Bus numbers 5,18, 21, 22,28,46,59,65,66,67,168,228, 506the walk venueHosts: Mr.Arjun Madan 31 Simei Street 3, 09-18, My Manhattan, Singapore 529902 Telephone: 9186 7269 RSVP Email ID: [email protected] (Venue is the Function Room 2 which is on level 7 of the multi storey car park in the condo)Directions to A) Driving: the Hosts’ 1) PIE (from City to Airport) Simei Avenue Exit 4A, Turn left to Simei StreetResidence 3 2) PIE (from Airport to City) Simei Road Exit 3A, Turn Right to Simei Street 3 B) Bus: 5, 20, 38, 531, 9 C) MRT: Opp Simei MRT Note: All are encouraged to attend the Walk. Those, however, who are not able to join the Walk, thehosts would be very happy that they directly come and join in the brunch by 10:15 AM. Prayers andmeditation will commence sharp at 10.30 A.M. All are requested to be punctual. PREVIEW OF FORTHCOMING SUNDAY MORNING WALKSWALK NO DATE PLACE HOST 386 01/10/2017 Gardens by the Bay Mr Shashi Lal Kashyap and Family 387 Mr Kiranchandra Vasant Sule and Family 05/11/2017 Woodlands Waterfront 388 Mr Ritesh Thakkar and Family Park 3/12/2017 Coney Island Along the Way… August 2017 Walk Review (walk no 384)\"Physical culture is the process of infusing consciousness into the cells of the body. One mayor may not know it, but it is a fact. When we concentrate to make our muscles move accordingto our will, when we endeavor to make our limbs suppler, to give them an agility, or a force,or a resistance, or a plasticity which they do not naturally possess, we infuse into the cells ofthe body a consciousness which was not there before, thus turning it into an increasinglywww.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 11

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. September 2017.homogeneous and receptive instrument, which progresses in and by its activities. This is theprimary importance of physical culture.\" - The Mother.It is with this aspiration that the Singapore Society has been holding monthly walks from itsinception. In some ways, especially in the wired contemporary world, where devices and mediaabsorb most people’s attention, it is quite a wonderful respite to walk in a beautiful naturalsetting.On August 6, 2017, 12 members came together at McRitchie Reservoir carpark to start yetanother walk. This was the three hundred and eighty fifth monthly walk, in an unbrokentradition. Anuvrat and baby Anushna came to flag off the event, and we started with stretchesfor around ten minutes to gently condition muscles for the walk. Stiffness dissolved in the sun,and soon we were ready to quickly walk by the water towards the wooded section of thereservoir. August is the month when Singapore celebrates its National Day. Singapore is trulyblessed to have so many natural settings, beautifully maintained for a modern city, where landand water is a coveted resource. As we stretched our limbs, the groups of different citizensgathered around us to undertake different kinds of physical activities formed a celebratoryenvironment.After the initial exercises, we made our way by colorful canoes on the water towards the forest,where there are walking trails through rubber trees, and other plantation era relic vegetation.McRitchie Reservoir carries history even as its expansiveness offers a timelessness, where timeseems to stand still, and birdsong is heard, away from the hustle bustle of the city. It is the oldestreservoir on the island, built in the 19th century. The walking trail had an incline, and slowly wefell into a kind of line, with Mr. Ramanathan leading the train with a brisk pace, as some of usmade our way slowly and deliberately, sometimes pausing to catch a breath on the incline. Eventhough the sun was bright on that day, the shade of the trees offered a cool path, on which wemade our way. It is always amazing to see how trees aspire towards the light and sun, theirleaves making their way softly and strongly to find light where they can. The forest is always areminder of that aspiration towards the light, even in human beings, even in the shade, evenwhere we least expect it.As we trudged along, slowly and briskly, slices of conversations about pilgrimages, andmeditation practices, hung in the humid air. There is a delight in undertaking activities andsharing aspirations with fellow sadhaks and a walk offers a unique opportunity. After walkingfor about an hour, and almost 4 miles, we made our way back to where we started, and dividedinto groups to go to Mr. and Mrs. K V Rao’s place.A wonderful welcome awaited us there with cool water and drinks even before we entered thehome. The place was set up for prayers and meditations, and beautiful flowers adorned the altar.Mr. Rao had cooked a meal for about 60 guests on his mother’s anniversary. After meditationand readings from the Mother’s writings, the guests were invited to the table, where a real spreadwas laid out. The food was amazing, and we felt the love that had gone into cooking it. Afterthe meal, there was a little get together to discuss the youth program led by Jared. A feeling ofthankfulness at the beautiful morning flooded most hearts, as we experienced both a filling upof the spirit, as well as hungry stomachs. It was a day to remember both the birthday of SriAurobindo, and the birthday of the land we live in, and hence was a reminder of the presence ofdivine grace in our lives, which manifests in many ways. All we have to do is open our heartsand eyes. Sumita Ambastawww.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 12

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. September 2017. ANNOUNCEMENTS Guest Speaker: Prof. S. MohantyProfessor Sachidananda Mohanty is the Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Orissa at Koraput, India. Hewas recently nominated as a member for the Commission on Education for UNESCO by the President of India.He is also a member of the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation, administered by the Ministry of theHuman Resources Development, (MHRD) Government of India.He will be giving talks on the below topics at the Sri Aurobindo Room at SIFASThursday, 28th SEP 2017 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM,Swami Vivekananda's Message for TodayThe lecture willbring in the author's reminiscences of his memorable visit to Chicago in 2005, the location where Swamiji haddelivered his memorable talks to the World Parliament of Religions and highlight Swamiji's relevance today withlinks to Sri Aurobindo's philosophy and Integral Yoga.Saturday, 30th SEP 2017 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM,Sri Aurobindo and the Challenges of the Modern World:Thelecture will suggest that far from being a world- shunning mystic, Sri Aurobindo has much to say to the modernworld in practical termsSunday, 1st OCT 2017 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM,A Memorable Moment in Human History:The Mother Meetsthe Master The lecture will explore the significance of this unique meeting in the context of the growth of thehuman consciousness in world historyTuesday, 3rd OCT 2017 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM,Sri Aurobindo's Major Works: A Bird's Eye ViewThe aimhere is to highlight the significance of the Major Works of Sri Aurobindo and to bring to attention his versatilegeniusAll Are Welcome!In case of any queries please write to [email protected] or call +65 97354063 (Mr.Ramadoss) S R I A U R O B I N D O S O C I E T Y, SINGAPORE 2- A STARLIGHT ROAD 01-07 SINGAPORE 217755 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 13