May 2016 Newsletter - web

May 2016 SRI AUROBINDO SOCIETY VOL 30.05 Singapore Permit No. MCI (P) 069/01/2016 NEWSLETTER Courage Whatever the domain, whatever the danger, the attitude remains the same-calm and assured.Botanical Name: CalotropisCommon Name: Mudar, Crown plant, Bowstring hempSpiritual Significance: Integral Courage The Immutable Courage If men praise thee, O man, ‘tis well; nor ill, If they condemn. Let fortune curst or boon Enter thy doors or leave them as she will; Though death expect thee ere yon sinking moon Vanish or wait till unborn stars give light, The firm high soul remains immutable Nor by one step will deviate from the right. - Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2016. Guiding Light of the Month “Thus, my prayer rushed up towards Thee; and, from the depths of the abyss, Ibeheld Thee in Thy radiant splendour; Thou didst appear and Thou saidst to me: “Lose not courage, be firm, be confident, — I COME.”” The Mother, ‘Prayers and Meditations’ November 24, 1931The virtue on the board this month is Courage. From the Editor’s DeskThe root of courage is ‘cor’, a Latin word that destroy the divine action on earth;”denotes the heart or the seat of feelings(http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/eng There is another clause to the definition and that is,lish/courage). The dictionary defines this word as “in any form” - the absence of fear in any form. Thismaking oneself do something that frightens one, leaves us little room for any excuses to harbour fear,that one does not usually do or want to do out of giving it any justification at all. All these requirefear, but which one brings oneself to do with a some scrutiny of one’s inner spaces, to look at thegathering of force from within. Or it could be movements of resistances, refusals of opportunitiessomething that one does in the face of grief and for progress, or to overcome a weakness. Usually,pain, despite these. All in all, there is a call to beyond all these movements, some kind of fear, ofexceed oneself. losing one’s identity, of what one has gained so far; fear of failure and fear of pain and loss are usuallyThe Mother has explained courage as an opposite there. Usually these are needless fears that arise outforce of fear, “Courage is the total absence of fear of our smaller, restricted selves. These are alsoin any form”. If we were to look at all the words movements that arise when we are not in our highestthat make up this above explanation of fear, if we best, when we are given to lower movements of theopen ourselves to the key ideas that define courage, being, when we open our doors for the darkness tothen we would find therein all it takes for that bud cloud in and make obscure our vision. Fear makes usof courage to open, take flower into a resplendent, doubt our highest potential or our trust in the highestindomitable force. The phrase, “total absence of we can perceive at better times of illumination.fear” lays the condition for the state of courage. It However, once we know well the movements fromis that there should be no iota of fear in one’s being. within, once we understand these movements andFear is said to be an impurity, “one of the greatest offer them up, asking for a transformation of these,impurities” which we should take care to abolish the unfailing help does come and we arise out of ourfrom us, to not let any of it enter within the small, narrow spaces into vast vistas of progress andconsciousness. Fear is an unpleasant and growth.“crippling” emotion that is caused by the threat ofpain, harm and danger (as in As we know by now, this too takes time and efforthttps://www.google.co.in/search?q=what+is+fea from us. We need to want to rid ourselves of fear sor%3F&oq=what+is+fear%3F&aqs=chrome..69i that the force of courage can reign victorious within57j0l5.2302j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8). and lead us in life towards a greater purpose. TheIt is crippling because, it does not let one move installation of courage in its rightful place withinforward towards one’s goal, it holds one back. This requires that one is “dauntless, and never indulge inholding back itself is a great cause of grieve in that petty, small, feeble, nasty shrinking back uponmost of us, as experience would tell. Fear is a force, oneself, which is fear”. Finally, may we all progressaccording to The Mother, that comes “most to state of integral courage, which means,directly from the anti-divine forces which want “…whatever the domain, whatever the danger, the attitude remains the same – calm and assured.”www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 2

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2016. Savitri Many are God's forms by which he grows in man; They stamp his thoughts and deeds with divinity, Uplift the stature of the human clay Or slowly transmute it into heaven's gold. He is the good for which men fight and die, He is the War of Right with Titan Wrong, He is Freedom rising deathless from hr pyre, He is Valour guarding still the desperate pass Or lone and erect on the shattered barricade Or a sentinel in the dangerous echoing Night. He is the crown of the martyr burned in flame And the glad resignation of the saint And courage indifferent to the wounds of Time. (Book seven, Canto four) Question of the monthQ: Mother, if one is cowardly and avoids a difficulty, if next time the difficulty is still greater,then how long does this continue?The Mother: It continues until one stops being cowardly, till one understands that it's notsomething to be done. One can overcome one's cowardice. There isn't a thing one can't overcomeif one wants to.(CWM, Volume 7, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Puducherry) Courage – Stories told by The MotherI shall tell you the story of Vibhishan the hero. He braved a danger that was greater than the dangerof death: he braved the fury of a king and gave him the wise advice that others dared not voice.The demon-king of Lanka was Ravana of the Ten Heads.Ravana had stolen lady Sita away from her husband and carried her off in his chariot to his palaceon the island of Lanka.Sumptuous was the palace and delightful the garden in which he imprisoned the princess Sita. Yetshe was unhappy and every day she would shed tears, not knowing whether she would ever seeher Lord Rama again.Glorious Rama learnt from Hanuman the monkey-king where his wife Sita was held captive. Heset out with noble Lakshman, his brother, and a great army of heroes to the rescue of the prisoner.When the demon Ravana learnt of the arrival of Rama, he trembled with fear.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 3

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2016.The advice he received was of two kinds. A crowd of courtiers thronged around his throne saying:“All is well; have no fear, O Ravana. Gods and demons you have conquered: you will have nodifficulty in conquering Rama and his companions, the monkeys of Hanuman.”When these noisy counsellors had left the king, his brother Vibhishan entered, knelt and kissed hisfeet. Then he rose and sat at the right hand of the throne.“O my brother,” he said, “if you wish to live happily and keep the throne of this beautiful islandof Lanka, give back the lovely Sita, for she is the wife of another. Go to Rama and ask hisforgiveness, and he will not turn away his face. Be not arrogant and foolhardy.”A wise man, Malyavan, heard these words and was glad. He exclaimed to the king of demons:“Take your brother’s words to heart, for he has spoken the truth.”“Both of you have evil designs,” replied the king, “for you take the side of my foes.”And the eyes of his ten heads flashed with such fury that Malyavan fled from the room in terror.But Vibhishan, in the bravery of his soul, remained.“Sire,” he said, “in the heart of each man there is both wisdom and foolishness. If wisdom dwellsin his breast, life goes well with him; if it is foolishness, all goes ill. I fear that you harbourfoolishness in your breast, O my brother, for you give ear to those who give bad advice. They arenot your true friends.”He fell silent and kissed the feet of the king.“Wretch!” cried Ravana. “You too are one of my enemies. Speak no more senseless words to me.Talk to the hermits in the woods but not to one who has been victorious over all the enemies hehas fought.”And as he shouted he kicked his brave brother Vibhishan.So, with a heavy heart, his brother rose and left the king’s house.Knowing no fear, he had spoken frankly to Ravana; and since the ten-headed one would not listen,Vibhishan had no choice but to leave.Vibhishan’s act was one of physical courage, for he did not fear his brother’s blows; but it wasalso an act of mental courage, for he did not hesitate to utter words that the other courtiers,physically as brave as he, would not have let fall from their lips. This courage of the mind is knownas moral courage. ***Such was the courage of Moses, the leader of Israel, who demanded from the Pharaoh of Egyptthe freedom of the oppressed Jewish people.Such was the courage of Mohammed, the Prophet, who imparted his religious thought to the Arabs,and who refused to be silenced even though they threatened him with death.Such was the courage of Siddhartha, the Blessed One, who taught the people of India a new andnoble path, and was not terrified by the evil spirits who assailed him under the Bo-tree.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 4

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2016.Such was the courage of Christ, who preached to the people: “Love one another,” and was notintimidated by the pontiffs of Jerusalem who forbade him to teach, nor by the Romans whocrucified him.So we have noted three kinds, three degrees of courage:Physical courage for oneself.Courage for the near one, the friend, the neighbour in distress, the threatened motherland.Finally, the moral courage that enables one to stand up to unjust men, however powerful they maybe, and to make them listen to the voice of right and truth. ***In the following story, on the other hand, you will observe how calmly the people behaved and yethow brave they were in face of mortal peril at sea.Towards the end of March 1910, a Scottish vessel was carrying passengers from Australia to theCape of Good Hope. There was no trace of a cloud in the sky and the sea was calm and blue.Suddenly the ship struck a reef six miles off the west coast of Australia.Immediately the whole crew was on the move, each man hurrying as whistles were blown. Butthis noise was not the result of confusion and panic.An order rang out: “Man the boats!”The passengers put on their life-belts.A blind man led by his servant walked across the deck. Everyone made way for him. He washelpless and all wanted him to be the first to be saved.A short time later the ship had been evacuated, and soon it sank.On one of the life-boats a woman began to sing. And in spite of the sound of the waves which attimes drowned her voice, the oarsmen could hear the refrain which put strength into their arms:Pull for the shore, sailors,Pull for the shore.The shipwrecked people reached the shore at last and were taken in by some good fishing folk.Not one passenger had been lost. In this way four hundred and fifty people had saved themselvesby their quiet courage. - The Mother(CWM, Volume 2, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Puducherry)There is no greater courage than that of recognising one’s own mistakes.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 5

As flows a river… Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2016.As a spot of crimson on blue skies - SandhyaLight begins its journey for the day.Growing into a saffron ball at the horizon,Ascends higher to spread its rays all over earthAs rivers from mountain peaks,Flows the rays of light from sun.Running as bountiful sources of energy,They brighten the lives of all. March - April Sunday Activities at the Centre – A glimpseMarch 20th – Reading from “The Secret of the Veda” by Sri Aurobindo:HYMNS OF THE ATRIS: Foreword (page 363 to 369)Vedo veda-vidha-vyango vedango veda-vit-kavih (quote from Vishnusahasranama)Lord Vishnu Himself is “VEDA” and HE embodies the eternal wisdom.Sri Aurobindo has expressed his challenges in bringing out the meaning of the Veda. He says justa literal translation of the Veda would be a falsification of their sense and spirit. He has adopted abeautiful path in which the light of the Vedic truth gleams out from its veil of symbol and image.Sri Aurobindo says that “Veda is a book of esoteric symbols, almost of spiritual formulae whichmasks itself as a collection of ritual poems.”The meaning of the Vedas takes different “avatars” depending on the interpretation the Vedic poetsor scholars give.A few examples are given on how images of Lakshmi, Saraswati and Agni etc.... became prey tothe ingenuity of the scholar who gropes for forced meaning amid obscurities and incongruitieswhere the ancients bathed their souls in harmony and light.The Foreword ends with “The secret of the Veda, even when it has been unveiled, remains still asecret”I would like to add an analogy to Veda in my experience.The wonderful world around me like plants, flowers and the whole life systems all are like Vedasto me, I don’t know their origin or composition.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 6

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2016.But I call them the names some scientists have given them, I chant slokas in my prayer which havecome from some puranas and offer the beautiful flowers and enjoy the sweetness of several fruitsblessed by our earth, wind, sun............ Everything is a secret, which with more revelation bring“Divine Ananda.”March 27th – Savitri, an unending journey:Meditation on “Savitri” with Huta’s Visuals: Book One, The Book of Beginnings, Canto One,Canto two – The Issue - Pictures 1 to 17.The summary of the lines in pictures from Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo is given below:Man is a being in ferment. A restless energy of life courses through the body and keeps it in a stateof excitement. Passions, desires, emotions are born every moment and the nervous being is intension. The mind is full of uncontrolled thought-activity without a moment’s respite. The mysticpath demands a quieting of this multiple movement and a steady gathering of all the facultiesaround the chosen Ideal. This condition is usually a precursor of the advent or revelation of God.It prepares the human to receive the Divine.It is in the supreme moments of crises that man often rises to undreamt of heights and showscapacities totally unexpected. The true vital being of courage and heroism, the true mental beingof light, the true subtle-physical being of plasticity and endurance, are governed by the soul orpsychic being.Savitri had spent twelve months in the hermitage in the deep forests far from the life of busyhumanity in her father’s kingdom. She had lived a life of a few wants and fewer calls amidst hills,high trees and the open skies and had grown in a unique way. For the very solitude in which shefound herself opened out her being in communion with the Infinite. Everything in this unpollutedNature linked her with the mightier life pulsating underneath and above. She had absorbed all andgrown in stature.This is the true balance at which man has to arrive: he must build up within himself a deep calm,a strength of silence which alone can bear without disturbance or breakdown the play of delight,the pressure of intense joy that comes in the fullness of the soul’s growth.All her life there was a special Presence hovering around Savitri, nourishing her growth withheavenly strength and bliss. She had been put to birth on earth with a special purpose of the Divineand due care was lavished on her to ensure her progress, to guard her from all evil attentions thatare ever on the lookout for openings to strike at the instruments or children of God.The issue before Savitri was whether to accept life as it was characterised by Ignorance and itssequel Death or to fight to change its nature by eliminating the disfiguring agents. The only wayto do it was to strike at the root of Death by refusing to accept his claims and affirming the Truthof Immortality instead. There was no ready-made way to this end and she was faced with theprospect of having to build it step by step across the slippery marshes of the dark god. She decidedin favour of the more difficult but momentously decisive choice.Life in this world presents a picture in which all seems to be determined by Fate. Fate appears tobe not only the master but in its ramifications the very stuff of existence. Looked at from anotherview-point, all life appears to be but a heaving of a giant Desire on the bosom of which man istossed like a cork. Every sweep of desire and the waves of desires are legions, pushes him hitherand thither in his attempt to satisfy it; his life is a restless pursuit of an unending stream of desires.He is helpless and lives as a creature of circumstance without control, without direction.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 7

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2016.As long as man remains a creature, for the most part unconscious and inert, he is nothing morethan a plaything for the cosmic forces; he is a pawn. In the measure in which he is awake anddevelops this consciousness well enough to direct his own movements, he becomes a participantin the game, throwing his weight on any side he chooses.Savitri was not a creature helplessly subjected to the operations of Time and Fate, at the mercy ofevery circumstance and impulsion that came by. She embodied a Consciousness and a Force thatwere not products of terrestrial workings but wholly independent of them. Her exterior was only aframe, a vibrant and wakeful frame, for the puissance that ensouled it.The mind of man in this world is tied firmly to the tether of its physical bases. It can take flight inthe skies of thought but always it has to return to the earth. The shadow of the primeval Ignorancepursues it wherever it goes into action and mars its perfection and effectivity. And life itself,organised in matter and enclosed in its formation, cannot proceed farther than the limits set to itscareer. Within that span life may spread itself, unearth secrets from the womb of Time, but oncethe fixed boundary is reached, life is devoured by Death. On all fronts the material world is aclosed system.All such effort, conscious or unconscious, in man or nature, is aimed to produce or to find thisbalance. It is when this junction takes place in the subtle domains of existence that impossible isturned into possible.This is precisely what Savitri did: she made her choice in the living depths of her soul, linked itwith the Divine Will and brought it to bear upon the developing situation.April 3rd – Reading from AIM Magazine, March 2016: Passages from Pathways to theFuture:No longer a hope but a certaintyMother says that Sri Aurobindo’s New world has already taken birth, now it is no more a hope buta certainty, but it is up to us to put all our concentration, good will and to realise it soon, than letmany years elapse before we see visible results.The needed aspirationThere comes a moment when the body which is a slave to our vital urges may no longer feel itworth it to live for the present satisfaction and will be athirst for the Light which wants to manifest;they cry out for it, they find an intense joy in it and are sure of the Victory.An ardent will for progress is IndispensableWhat is indispensable is joyful renunciation of all that hampers our forward movement and set outwith the ardent faith that future revelations and realisation are for us waiting there!An exceptional hourMother says that if we could remember every second of our life that we are at an exceptional hour,a unique time, that we have this immense good fortune, this invaluable privilege of being presentat the birth of a new world we could easily get rid of our old ways, participate and become thisNEW WORLD.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 8

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2016.April 10th – Questions and Answers 1956, The Mother, 16 May 1956:“In sum, it may be safely affirmed that no solution offered can be anything but provisional until asupramental Truth –consciousness is reached by which the appearances of things are put in theirplace and their essence revealed and that in them which derives straight from the spiritual essence.In the meanwhile our only safety is to find a guiding law of spiritual experience – or else to liberatea light within that can lead us on the way until that greater direct Truth - Consciousness is reachedabove us or born within us. For all else that is only outward, all that is not a spiritual sense orseeing, the construction, representations or conclusion of the intellect, the suggestions orinstigation of the Life force, the positive necessities of physical things are sometimes half-lights,sometimes false lights that can at best only serve for a while or serve a little and for the rest eitherdetain or confuse us.” Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga, SABCL, vol20, pg 128-29.The sadhak’s question to Mother “The necessities of physical things also? I don’t understand.Mother explains that what Sri Aurobindo means is that all we think as Knowledge are onlydiminished knowledge mixed with ignorance. Even the physical need which we think withoutwhich the body grows weak and dies, is only a partial truth.The example given is difference between the people who die of hunger without food for 8 days orso, but who do fasting for a higher purpose become healthier and get more detached from physicalneeds.Sweet Mother, what is this “imperious law”, this “spiritual and supramental law”?It is the truth of each being. Sri Aurobindo says that each one of us is endowed with a unique truthin us which we have to realise in the universe and the place we must occupy in the world.It is very interesting that every glimpse of Sunday activity seems to open up a new pathway to ourinner self! - Jayalakshmi PROGRAMME FOR THE MONTH OF MAY 2016 DATE TIME DETAILS 8:00 AM Monthly Morning Walk * 1st May 2016 6:00 PM Sunday 6:00 PM Reading from AIM Magazine 6:00 PM 1st May 2016 Q&A from Mother Complete works Volume 8 Sunday Followed by Om Choir8th May 2016 Savitri – An unending journey Sunday Study Circle – Part 3 “The Secret of the Veda”15th May 2016 (pg. 393-556) Sunday TBD22nd May 2016 6:00 PM Sunday29th May 2016 6:00 PM Sunday* Please see below for details.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 9

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2016. MAY 2016 MORNING WALK – NO. 369Date: Sunday, 1st May 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.Meeting Point: Costa Del Sol condominium (beside the swimming pool)Direction to Driving:Meeting Point: Those driving along ECP (heading from the city towards airport) exit ECP at Bayshore Road Exit No.6. Turn first left upon exit to enter Cost Del Sol on your left. Those driving from PIE arrive at Bedok South Road and connect to ECP leading to Changi Airport. Take Bayshore Road Exit No. 6 as above Bus: Those heading towards City along Upper East Coast Road, alight at Bus Stop B12 Upper East Coast Road served by Bus Nos. 10, 10e, 13, 14, 14e, 43 & 48. Walk to Bayshore Road just round the corner of the Bus Stop. Those heading away from the City along Upper East Coast Road alight at Bus Stop B11 Upper East Coast Road served by the same Bus Numbers as above. Walk across road to Bayshore Road.Contact No: Mr S. Ramanathan (91385130)Hosts: M/s. Ashok and Bhakti Patel 68, Bayshore Road, # 19 – 04, Costa Del Sol, Singapore 469986.RSVP Please RSVP to the hosts by Email: [email protected] or SMS:Information: 98380234 (Mr Ashok Patel) not later than 30th April, if you are able to make it for the walk & 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. May 2016. PREVIEW OF FORTHCOMING SUNDAY MORNING WALKSWALK DATE PLACE HOST NO 370 05/06/2016 TBA Mr. Anand Patel & Family 371 03/07/2016 TBA Mr Sanjay Mehta & Mrs Ami Mehta 372 07/08/2016 Botanical Gardens Mr Venkatesh Rao & Mrs Shailaja 373 04/09/2016 TBA 374 02/10/2016 Gardens by the Bay TBA Mr Sashi Lal Kashyap & Family Along the Way…When Kiran Krishnamurthy suggested Upper Seletar Reservoir as the walk venue for April, I wasvery apprehensive about the turn out, since not many Soceitians, having been used to the walks inthe East and West parts of Singapore, knew the existence of this place. However I was pleasantlysurprised to see nearly 20 people turn up for the walk on a bright sunny day.Upper Seletar Reservoir Park, I was told, has a rich history of nearly a hundred years and is one ofthe four reservoirs that bound Singapore’s nature reserves. It is therefore not a mystery to find thevast expanse of water not spoilt by human interference and remain pristine clear.After the usual warm up exercise led by Saurab, all of us, young and old, set out to climbing upthe majestic “Rocket Tower” (A five Storey Tower having nearly 100 steps) with all eagerness.What a sight to behold! A stunning 360º panoramic view it was - vast sheet of water one side, lushgreen vegetation on the other side, golf course on the third and Singapore Zoo on the fourth -Divine Experience indeed. With great reluctance, we started climbing down to explore the otherareas of the Reservoir before the Sun’s rays become intense.We took a leisurely stroll admiring the serenity of the reservoir, followed by walk along the roadcovered by the over-arching rain tree branches forming a natural tunnel. Along the way we spottedmany long tailed macaques looking curiously at us. Our Saurab had a pleasant shock, when,unknown to him a beautiful rainbow coloured macaw flew from nowhere and sat on the back ofhis shoulder. The young in us were very thrilled and vied with one another to hold the macaws intheir hands and shoulders.“In the very depths of your being, deep within your breast, the Divine Presence is always there,luminous and peaceful, full of love and wisdom. It is there so that you may unite with it and it maytransform you into a luminous and radiant consciousness.Together you and I shall try to silence all the external noise on the surface of your being, so thatin silence and peace you may unite with this inner glory.Then that day will become the day of your new birth.” - The Mother (CWM Vol. 17, p. 372)www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 11

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2016.True – It is indeed a unique place for those who wish to escape from the concrete world we findourselves surrounded by and soak in the magical glow of a quiet, relaxing place for contemplation.Feeling exhausted after the walk, we reached the host’s place and were warmly welcomed by ourever cheerful Mr. Krishnamurthy. We had a sumptuous treat first for our ears when Mr.Krishnamurthy led us to spiritual ecstasy by his lecture on Sri Aurobindo’ s insight into IshavashyaUpanishad and thereafter for our gastronomical tastes by Swati by her delicious home cooked food.Little Deepika with her Elsa Tiara celebrated her birthday month and exuded so much joy showingthe guests around her new home.Thank you Kiran and Swati for unearthing a hidden gem (Upper Seletar Reservoir) as the walkvenue. May your new home bring you every joy your hearts wish for! - Ramanathan. 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