SAS November 2017 Newsletter

November 2017 SRI AUROBINDO SOCIETY VOL 31.11 Singapore Permit No. MCI (P) 071/01/2017 NEWSLETTER Growth of the Flame One close to their bosoms, yet divine and far. Of thought’s transcendent climb and heavenward leap, A brooding world of reverie and trance, Filled with the mightiest works of God and man, Where Nature seemed a dream of the Divine And beauty and grace and grandeur had their home, Harboured the childhood of the incarnate Flame. - Savitri, Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. November 2017. Guiding Light of the Month Like a flame that burns in silence, like a perfume that rises straight upward without wavering, my love goes to Thee; and like the child whodoes not reason and has no care, I trust myself to Thee that Thy Will maybe done, that Thy Light may manifest, Thy Peace radiate, Thy Love cover the world. The Mother, ‘Prayers and Meditations’ December 7, 1912 From the Editor’s DeskAs has been traditionally inferred, the flame has The symbol of the Flame may also be extended, if we allow, to the growth of our own innermostbeen a symbol of hope, power of vision, Light, anagent of purification and aspiration, always rising being, hidden deep within, veiled by layers afterup in an ardent yearning to realize itself and at the layers. This revelation of the innermost being,same time, always submitting a prayer to this end,to higher forces, far above the limitations of the also known as the Psychic Being in Srihuman might. In the epic poem Savitri, the flame Aurobindo’s Integral Yoga, is akin to a growth ofis a personification of Savitri herself, who is thefull form of all that a flame represents. The Canto a flame, when it comes forward to the forefront,titled, “Growth of the Flame”, is the theme of this showing itself more and more as the growthedition of the Newsletter. In this Canto, SriAurobindo brings alive in our consciousness the process progresses till finally it stands unveiled atwonder of the Flame’s growth from its birth in the front of the being, influencing all its parts andtime, towards a full-blown manifestation ofdivinity that it might take up arms against planes and leading it simultaneously to a Lifefalsehood and ignorance and illusion, at the Divine where every act and move is a Divineappointed time and place.An earthly place of unearthly charm and beauty sanction executed by the enlightened being, as it“Harboured the childhood of the incarnate Flame. proceeds to open itself to the manifestation of Divinity in the earthen clay. How does this growthOver her watched millennial influencesAnd the deep godheads of a grandiose past take place? How do we remove the layers which block the real Person within? How do we unmaskLooked on her and saw the future’s godheads come ourselves, removing those masks we have putAs if this magnet drew their powers unseen.” over us knowingly and without any consciousness of them? It is indeed a tall order. But this human birth is also worthy of reverence. There is an opportunity, so it seems, given to us to realize the greatness, the flame within so that life may assume a beauty and light, its right, now veiled.It is evident here that this Flame that was being The process has to be worked out in eachnurtured was no ordinary Flame. Or perhaps it individual with clues along the way, as we journeywas not even nurtured; It was there growing of its on in life.own strength and might, and was preparing the This month of November also sees two important occasions. On the 17th, we remember Thedivine ground for future greatnesses to come, andwhich come as if pulled by that Flame alone. Mother’s Mahasamadhi Day. This will be observed as a day of silence. On 24th we observeThese few lines in themselves give us a direct the 91st anniversary of Siddhi Day or the day ofindication of the vast Divine plan for earth. It wasan announcement of the coming of a Force thatwould change the earth and manifest God’s Victory, signifying the descent of the Overmentalgreatness here. This was Savitri, the Flame, or Krishna’s Light into the Earth plane in 1926.God’s gift to the yearning aspiration of one man,to save the world.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 2

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. November 2017. Savitri, a journey of Love and Light Aware of the universal Self in all She turned to living hearts and human forms; Her soul’s reflections, complements, counterparts, The close outlying portions of her being Divided from her by walls of body and mind Yet to her spirit bound by ties divine. (Savitri, Book four, Canto two)(Meditations on Savitri, by Huta, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Puducherry)www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 3

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. November 2017. A single lamp lit in perfection’s house All her life’s turns led her to symbol doors Admitting to secret Powers that were her kin; Adept of truth, initiate of bliss, A mystic acolyte trained in Nature’s school, Aware of the marvel of created things She laid the secrecies of her heart’s deep muse Upon the altar of the Wonderful; Her hours were ritual in a timeless fane; Her acts became gestures of sacrifice.When she was about twelve, Mirra used to go for solitary walks in the woods at Fontainebleau, andshe would often sit for hours at the foot of a tree losing herself in communion with Nature. It was asingular concatenation, the ardent young girl self-absorbed in the infinitudes, and the silent agelesstree with the imperious woods around: quite an equation of the mathematics of the Spirit! The verybirds and squirrels made friends with her, and would often perch on her, or crawl lovingly over her.And, indeed, Mirra felt perfectly at peace there in the bosom of Nature, and experienced a sense ofidentity. Some of the trees at Fontainebleau were supposed to be quite ancient – perhaps twothousand years old or more - and it was as though Mirra had captivated the heart of primordialNature. The trees almost seemed to understand her, and whisper in a familiar language to her. Thespirit of a tree had once become aware of the talk of cutting it down, and when Mirra went to situnder it began soliciting her to somehow save it from the threatened destruction. In later life sheintervened in several cases and succeeded in staying the murderous axe. Her companionship withNature was thus no pose, no mere figure of speech, but a deep commitment flowing from a sense ofspiritual oneness with all life, all Nature.On one occasion, however, as Mirra was climbing a hill in the Fontainebleau woods, her footslipped, and she started falling down. Would she hit the flint stones below? She was unafraid all thesame, and she felt as though Somebody was supporting her during her seemingly precipitate fall,and she safely reached the ground as though nothing had happened, as though she had but leisurelywalked down the hill.From the age of twelve, Mirra started doing what we might term Yoga, and her deep interest inoccultism also sprouted at about the same time. Doing Yoga meant aspiring steadily for union withthe Divine, and this led to the recurrence of certain dreams, visions, and even realisations. She read,and she pondered, and she had long meditative sessions. These comrade selves to raise to her own wide breadths Her heart desired and filled with her own power That a diviner Force might enter life, A breath of Godhead greaten human time.Between her eighteenth and twentieth years, Mirra was able to achieve “a conscious and constantunion with the divine Presence” and for effecting this communion she had neither Guru nor Bookto guide her. In other words, with unerring intuition and a compulsive psychic movement Mirra hadbeen able to reach the heart of the great mystery: her own secret Self which was at once the bestShastra and the sanctuary of the ultimate Guru. While describing the instruments of Yoga-Siddhi,Sri Aurobindo says in The Synthesis of Yoga:The supreme Shastra of the integral Yoga is the eternal Veda secret in the heart of every thinkingand living being ….As the supreme Shastra of the integral Yoga is the eternal Veda secret in the heart of every man, soits supreme Guide and Teacher is the inner Guide, the World-Teacher, jagad-guru, secret within us.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 4

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. November 2017.It is he who destroys our darkness by the resplendent light of his knowledge …. He disclosesprogressively in us his own nature of freedom, bliss, love, power, immortal being.But of course, ordinarily the written or received Shastra, “the Word from without, representativeof the Divine,” does help the psychic efflorescence. Where the self-unfolding has already takenplace, as with Mirra in the first flash of her flowering womanhood, subsequent access to areceived Shastra or an external Guru could be, “as it were, a concession of the omnipotent andomniscient Divine to the generality of a law that governs Nature”.This was how Mirra began reading Swami Vivekananda’s Raja Yoga and later, more importantstill, poring over the Bhagavad Gita. She found Vivekananda’s lectures illuminating, and itseemed a marvel that somebody could explain something to her so clearly. Then an Indian*introduced her to the Bhagavad Gita and said, “Read the Gita, and take Krishna as the symbolof the immanent God, the inner Godhead.” And in one month, even though she had access onlyto a poor French translation, she was able to enter into its spirit and find the immanent Divine,the God within. Thus was it for a while with Savitri, All worshipped marvellingly, none dared to claim. Her mind sat high pouring its golden beams, Her heart was a crowded temple of delight. A single lamp lit in perfection’s house, A bright pure image in a priestless shrine, Midst those encircling lives her spirit dwelt, Apart in herself until her hour of fate.Mirra’s manifesto for the future, a matter of hardly three pages, and originally given in twoinstalments, although rather too analytical in appearance and even repetitive in part, isnevertheless a remarkably comprehensive enunciation of the ends and means before modernman “who needs must choose between the abyss of imminent destruction and the steep andnarrow golden path of endless possibility. Early in her life, certain dreams and visions had cometo her with a persistent frequency, certain avenues had seemed to open up, whose materialisationor fulfilment was to be promoted during the wide expanse of her later life.She had already come across several people with a high aspiration and a keen urge to movetowards new horizons, but the tiresome struggle for existence was wearing them down. Althoughvery young at the time, Mirra had wanted to create a little sheltered world where such sincereaspirants would be freed from the exhausting preoccupations of earning and spending, butassured of the material necessities of life – food, clothing, shelter – so that they could turntowards the higher life.And in her middle age she was actually to be in a position to organise such a community life fora large group of spiritual aspirants. Thus, in the wider background ‘of the inspiring epic of herdivine ministry and manifestation, this 1912 manifesto has a key place, like the corner-stone ofa magnificent edifice.(On The Mother, K.R.Srinivasa Iyengar, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Puducherry)www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 5

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. November 2017. Radha’s prayer O Thou whom at first sight I knew for the Lord of my being and my God, receive my offering. Thine are all my thoughts, all my emotions, all the sentiments of my heart, all my sensations, all the movements of my life, each cell of my body, each drop of my blood. I am absolutely and altogether Thine, Thine without reserve. What Thou wilt of me, that I shall be. Whether Thou choosest for me life or death, happiness or sorrow, pleasure or suffering, all that comes to me from Thee will be welcome. Each one of Thy gifts will be always for me a gift divine bringing with it the supreme Felicity.(White roses, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Puducherry) Flowers Speak…. Blossoming of Nature Abundant and strong, nothing can stop its growth. Nature proves her collaboration with a smile of flowers. Spiritual Ascension Fearless, regular, uninterrupted All perfection of which the outer man is capable, is only a realising of the eternal perfection of the Spirit within him. We know the Divine and become the Divine, because we are That already in our secret nature.(Flowers and messages, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Puducherry)www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 6

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. November 2017. My little adventure A world nestled in neem trees, profound pomegranate flowers, peacocks and parrots, a world where Mother sings her music and passionate children sing her praise, perhaps swans will fly there one day, perhaps lotuses will blossom all day long. I spent a week at Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Delhi branch, along with the neem trees and pomegranates, along with peacocks and parrots, singing beautiful music, listening to the melodious harmonium that is living along with everyone and with the children and didis. I took up a small school project in art and music, to be with the children in Mirambika and get to know everyone in the Ashram. And I had a lovely time. I assisted in giving creative ideas for artwork with children and shared few beautiful songs with them. I observed the concept of Integral Education put into practice as I worked with them. As I worked with the children of perseverance group, I relished inwatching them work well in a team, in doing a science project. I suggested ideas on making theartwork more interactive and found them accepting the ideas very well. With the young kids, thegreen group, I worked on a quilling project and it was good to see how enthusiastic they were aboutit. We drew lotuses, sunshine, peacocks and a little boy wanted to do fire.The school was filled with beautiful pictures of Sweet Mother and everywhere I turned, I saw hersmiling at me. I felt really beautiful as I did music along with the children. I was given a keyboardand little children of many groups surrounded me. As I played the notes, they sang along with meand the children’s voices still reverberate in me. A very delightful moment it was, when a child toldme that she didn’t want to sing, but just close her eyes and listen to what I was playing. She did soand it was beautiful. When the youngest group came over, I really did not want to teach them songs,instead, I let them teach me. And they taught me a song on Mother Saraswati. Are they all the swansflying in the school? In the Ashram? I wonder… And another evening, I spent time at MatriKalamandir learning a song on Savitri along with didis. As I listened to the Harmonium beingplayed, I fell in love with it!The shrine was like a white chariot carrying a golden princess, the trees where reverberating withthe chants of morning birds, the evening meditations where glorious, table roses spoke of colorfulcompassion, squirrels where squeaking with joy all day long and Mother was watching all with calmpassionate eyes. This was my stay at the Ashram in Delhi last month. And I am back home toBangalore with sweet little memories. Sandhyawww.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 7

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. November 2017. September - October Sunday Activities at the Centre - A glimpseSeptember 24th – Savitri and Rig VedaJared has started taking us on an exciting journey, over several weeks, deep into the ‘Doctrine of theMystics’– an almost all encompassing view of Vedas from our Master. It is packed with surface, subtleand intuitive knowledge for us to explore and enjoy.Beyond all these, Sri Aurobindo has penned it based on his knowledge through identity and hence it isthe formless infinite projected in the finite document form. As we are all aware, Savitri too is similarnever ending journey for us to meditate upon and is sure to continue to reveal new insights even to verydevoted deep followers.“We have the same cosmic gradations as in the Puranas but they are differently grouped, -- seven worldsin principle, five in practice, three in their general groupings” – Doctrine of the MysticsJust before commencing the Doctrine of the Mystics, our topics of Rig Veda were Agni - the Flame andUsha - the Dawn. While delving into the Doctrine of the Mystics, we were thrilled to find the subtleknowledge that there are SEVEN occurrences of the word DAWN, FIVE occurrences of AGNI andTHREE occurrences of FLAME.Flash of intuition reveals much more – the seven dawns represent the seven ignorance we need toconquer, the five agnis represent the touching of the ‘Being of the Becoming’ (Psychic Being) for ourgolden psychic pathway and the three flames represent the triple transformation of Integral Yoga.We marvelled at the significance of the clarified butter (quintessence – 5th essence- of milk) being offeredto agni as emphasized in the Vedas signifying our aspiration to touch our soul (Hamsa). Thus, five alsocan represent the five external senses we need to purify, liberate and perfect; three can represent theinternal senses of Shruti, Dristi and Smriti.Matching with the macrocosmic view of the Doctrine of the mystics, we also took similar whole viewof Savitri – of course, with our limited knowledge.First, we glanced at the selected seven Huta paintings together representing • Divine self-conceptualization of Dynamic Delight (in the causal plane) represented by the World Stairs Chariot (Book 2, Canto 1, Picture 1) • Divine self-limitation (Spirit taking-on different aspects by gradually embracing inconscience, suffering etc) represented by the Mother of the Seven Sorrows, Madonna of Suffering and Madonna of Might (Book 7, Canto 4, Pictures 1, 4, 7) • Divine self-absorption (until complete Involution) carved in the massive stone of Matter’s trance (Book 7, Canto 5, Picture 20) • Savitri’s Triple Transformation (as the Divine role model for replication of many out of the One) represented by the ‘Flaming Serpent raising (released from sleep) through the seven chakras – as in a flash from a supernal light’ (Book 7, Canto 5, Picture 10) and the ‘Seven Lotuses representing each part of the Being trembling with Delight’ (Book 7, Canto 5, Picture 11)www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 8

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. November 2017.Next, we glanced at another set of seven paintings together representing ‘Savitri – Usha the Dawn, Agnithe Flame and OUR ROLE MODEL’ drawn from Book 4, Canto 1 and Canto 2.The purpose of this session was • To reemphasize that our aim of life is to search for and grow our Psychic Flame (Being of Becoming) as well as to help others to progress towards this self-discovery. It is not ‘Matter or Spirit’ but ‘Spirit and Matter’. The same has been generalized by Mother, educating us to broaden our outlook, to even embrace aspects of the opposing ideas so that our thoughts can be channelled towards a core central idea (rooted in higher consciousness) • To explore the possibility of reviewing Savitri in a different sequence rather than the canto by canto approach • To go deeper into the Huta paintings beyond the surface viewwww.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 9

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. November 2017.September 28th Sep, 30th Sep, 1st Oct and 3rd Oct – Prof Mohanty’s Talks at our CentreProfessor Sachidananda Mohanty delivered a series of four inspiring talks at our Centre. He is the ViceChancellor of the Central University of Orissa at Koraput, India. He was recently nominated as a memberfor the Commission on Education for UNESCO by the President of India. He is also a member of theGoverning Board of the Auroville Foundation, administered by the Ministry of the Human ResourcesDevelopment, (MHRD) Government of India.On the 28th Sep, he commenced his talks with Swami Vivekananda's Message for Today. The lecturebrought in the Prof’s reminiscences of his visit to Chicago in 2005, the location where Swamiji haddelivered his memorable talks to the World Parliament of Religions. He elaborated on how Swamijiutilized his deep integral vision of Self, Concept of Nations, Meaning of Religions and Importance ofWorld Union to deliver the all-encompassing Sanatana Dharma view of Hinduism and India. Swamijifurther inspired our Master Sri Aurobindo - appearing in His dreams in Alipore jail revealing the Beingof the Becoming and enabling the descent of Transcendental and Universal forces to accelerate ourevolution on Earth. Our Master could at once experience the consciousness reversal in Him thus enablingHim to see God in everyone and everything around.On the 30th Sep, the topic was ‘Sri Aurobindo and the Challenges of the Modern World’. Prof Mohantyelaborated on the four ideas of his book “Cosmopolitan Modernity”: 1) Tyranny of the State Idea, 2)Religion Vs Secular Modernity, 3) Problem of self-determination and 4) Identity Politics. In this modernworld, we in the name of internationalism devalue regional cultures and unfortunately accelerate thedecline of rich languages. Cosmopolitanism is the way to go – meaning to be a rich world citizen beyondthe narrow ‘either/or’ view embracing a broader outlook. It is important to preserve the positive essenceof the tradition and cultures (not the outer ritualistic doctrines) while also renewing our views to progressutilizing the modern developments. Prof Mohanty highlighted the deep political thoughts of SriAurobindo throughout His life and His prophetic solutions to most of the pressing problems inflictingthe history of mankind including recent and current ones such as Northern Ireland and North Korea. ProfMohanty also emphasized the four overlapping principles of Rationality, Individuality, Universality andProgress.On the 1st Oct, we were treated to the significance of the meeting of our Master and The Mother – Amemorable moment in the human history indeed. Their Divine Unity enabled the impossible possible -the bringing down of the Supramental Light, Force, Love and New Consciousness to our Earth. ProfMohanty brought out the significance of Their life journeys comparing the Visionary trajectory of SriAurobindo with the Mystic, Power and realization driven trajectory of The Mother. These two parallelLives had to amalgamate on a common path through the convergence of Their Divine Aspirations. Their‘Knowledge through Identity’ led to ‘The Supramental Consciousness driven Divine Justice’ pathway.The Creative Evolution as revealed by them was also touched upon. Finally, Prof Mohanty gave us awww.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 10

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. November 2017.glimpse of a rare archive material in his possession, namely, “Sri Aurobindo as I understand Him” byBarin Ghosh.3rd Oct was devoted to a bird’s eye view of our Master’s works.October 7th – Recording for ‘Savitri Around The World’ Recital‘Savitri Around The World’ is a project of Auroville to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Auroville andremembering The Mother’s Words:“SAVITRI IS A MANTRA FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE WORLD”The plan is to start on the February 25th, 2018 early morning IST (“The hour before Gods awake”) withthe recorded reading (Parayan) of the first lines of Savitri by The Mother. Then the continuous readingwould be taken up by participants from the Ashram and other places in India. From India, the readingswill move on from East to West following the Sun around the world passing through over 45 countriesbefore ending at Auroville on the February 27th evening. The initial plan was to organize an online livecontinuous reading. But based on logistic difficulties the plan has been changed to collect recordingsfrom around the world and play them from February 25th to 27th next year.Singapore was allotted 12 passages from Book X, ‘The Book of the Double Twilight’, Cantos 2 and 3(‘The Gospel of Death and the Vanity of the Ideal’ and ‘The Debate of Love and Death’). There were22 of us and we enthusiastically shared the passages to make sure all those interested got the chance toparticipate in the Parayan. This shared reading idea was from Satyakam and was gladly endorsed by theAuroville team.We assembled for the recording at our centre on Saturday the October 7th afternoon. Anand Venkatprovided tremendous help with the recording, editing and uploading. Dhana helped us with thecoordination during the recording. With Mother’s Grace, we all enjoyed the Divine Delight – a very rareopportunity indeed. Our special thanks to all those who participated and helped in this Divine endeavour.October 8th – Rig Veda: The doctrine of the mysticsWe continued our journey on ‘The Doctrine of the Mystics’ covering the Vedic Sacrifice which is a formof self-giving of all our gains and works to the powers of the higher existence. The whole world is adumb and helpless sacrifice in which the soul is bound as a victim self-offered to unseen Gods. Theliberating Word must be found, the illuminating hymn must be framed in the heart and mind of man andwww.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 11

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. November 2017.his life must be turned into a conscious and voluntary offering in which the soul is no longer the victim,but the master of the sacrifice. By right sacrifice and by the all-creative and all-expressive Word thatshall arise out of his depths as a sublime hymn to the Gods man can achieve all things. He shall conquerhis perfection; Nature shall come to him as a willing and longing bride; he shall become her seer andrule her as her King.The above is what we had tried to portray in our earlier session of Savitri using the second set of 7pictures: “The Birth, Childhood and Growth of the Flame – Our Role Model” from Book 4, Canto 1 andCanto 2. Instead of the nature ruling us through slow trial and error progress, we can convert nature tobe a willing instrument of the Divine. The last of these seven pictures is enlarged below highlighting theLove, Beauty and Delight - with Savitri in complete harmony with Nature.The image of this sacrifice is sometimes that of a journey or voyage; for it travels, it ascends; it has agoal -- the vastness, the true existence, the light, the felicity -- and it is called upon to discover and keepthe good, the straight and the happy path to the goal, the arduous, yet joyful road of the Truth.It has to climb, led by the flaming strength of the divine Will, from plateau to plateau as of a mountain,it has to cross as in a ship the waters of existence, traverse its rivers, overcome their deep pits and rapidcurrents; its aim is to arrive at the far-off ocean of light and infinity.And this is no easy or peaceful march; it is for long seasons a fierce and relentless battle. Constantly theAryan man (the pioneering individual) has to labour and to fight and conquer; he must be a tireless toilerand traveller and a stern warrior, he must force open and storm and sack city after city, win kingdomafter kingdom, overthrow and tread down ruthlessly enemy after enemy. His whole progress is a warringof Gods and Titans, Gods and Giants, Indra and the Python, Aryan and Dasyu. Aryan adversaries evenhe has to face in the open field; for old friends and helpers turn into enemies; the kings of Aryan stateshe would conquer and overpass join themselves to the Dasyus and are leagued against him in supremebattle to prevent his free and utter passing on.But the Dasyu is the natural enemy. These dividers, plunderers, harmful powers, these Danavas, sons ofthe Mother of division, are spoken of by the Rishis under many general appellations. There areRakshasas; there are Eaters and Devourers, Wolves and Tearers; there are hurters and haters; there aredualisers; there are confiners or censurers. But we are given also many specific names.Vritra, the Serpent, is the grand Adversary; for he obstructs with his coils of darkness all possibility ofdivine existence and divine action. And even when Vritra is slain by the light, fiercer enemies arise outof him. Shushna afflicts us with his impure and ineffective force, Namuchi fights man by his weaknesses,and others too assail, each with his proper evil. Then there are Vala and the Panis, miser traffickers inthe sense-life, stealers and concealers of the higher Light and its illuminations which they can onlydarken and misuse, -- an impious host who are jealous of their store and will not offer sacrifice to theGods. These and other personalities -- they are much more than personifications -- of our ignorance,www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 12

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. November 2017.evil, weakness and many limitations make constant war upon man; they encircle him from near or theyshoot their arrows at him from afar or even dwell in his gated house in the place of the Gods and withtheir shapeless stammering mouths and their insufficient breath of force mar his self-expression. Theymust be expelled, overpowered, slain, thrust down into their nether darkness by the aid of the mightyand helpful deities.We also covered the important role Angirasas play through their chanting to recover knowledge out ofignorance, the cows (rays), the horses (strength), day, water, sun etc. Sri Aurobindo and Mother havestrived to go beyond what the Vedas have revealed by bringing down the Supramental Light, Force,Love and the New Consciousness upon Earth. Through our own choice, we can open our gates to theDivine Forces through our Being of the Becoming (Psychic Being). - Ramadoss PROGRAMME FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 2017DATE TIME DETAILS5 Nov 2017 8 AM Monthly Morning Walk* Sunday5 Nov 2017 6 PM Meditation and Concentration with Mother’s Organ Music Sunday12 Nov 2017 6 PM Thematic Study Circle Part I : Sunday ‘Doctrine of the Mystics’ from The Secret of the Veda17 Nov 2017 7 PM Darshan day - Mother’s Mahasamadhi Day Friday 6 PM Reading of the Ashram’s Darshan message.19 Nov 2017 Meditation and selected readings from the works of Sri Sunday Aurobindo and the Mother. Thematic Study Circle Part II The Angirasa Rishis24 Nov 2017 7 PM Darshan Day – Mother’s Siddhi Day Friday Reading of the Ashram’s Darshan message. Meditation and selected readings from the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.26 Nov 2017 4 PM Youth Programme : Sunday Sri Aurobindo and Science Fiction26 Nov 2017 6 PM Savitri Circle Sunday 13* Please see below for details.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. November 2017. November 2017 Morning Walk – NO. 387Date: Sunday, 5th November 2017Time: 8:00 A.M. sharp for warm up exercise.Walk Venue: Chestnut Nature ParkMeeting Point: Car Park therein. Please follow directions to the walk venue (given below)Contact No: Mr S.Ramanathan (9138 5130)Directions to A) Bus: 700A, 973 from Bukit Panjang temporary bus park. 7 busthe meeting stops. Alight at stop “After Chestnut Avenue\". Walk for 14 minutespoint (not advisable) till car park at the park. Otherwise alight at bukit panjang and take taxi. If coming from Woodlands, take bus 966. 9 bus stops from woodlands. Get down at stop\" After chestnut Avenue\" and follow as was explained earlier. B) Car: Upper bukit timah road from woodlands direction, turn left at Petir road and again left at Chestnut Avenue all the way to car park. Those coming from opp direction, turn right at Petir road and left at Chestnut Avenue all the way to car park. If parking lot not available, then park along road as the other people park.Hosts: Mr. Kiranchandra Vasant Sule and Family, Yew Mei Green Condo, #02-30, Block 56,RSVP Choa Chu Kang North 6, Singapore 685977.Directions tothe Hosts’ Email ID: [email protected] or [email protected] Mobile: 93896094 (Mrs Preethi Sule) A) Car: KJE from PIE, left turn at Choa Chu Kang drive and right turn at Choa Chu Kang North 5, all the way straight till reach condo on left. After entry turn right to blk 56. Those coming by car KJE from BKE, turn right at Choa Chu Kang drive and then follow as above.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 14

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. November 2017. B) MRT/BUS: Bus 307, 307E from Yew Tee MRT. Alight at 3rd bus stop opp blk 634. Cross the road and enter through the side gate. Can follow the residents entering or even when someone opens the side gate. Otherwise, press 0230 and bell. Once received call, push the gate inside. The condo is also accessible from Yew Tee MRT --it is around 8 minutes’ walk to the side gate following Choa Chu Kang North 6 and walk straight till you see the condo on the right.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. Prayersand meditation will commence sharp at 10.30 A.M. All are requested to be punctual.PREVIEW OF FORTHCOMING SUNDAY MORNING WALKSWALK NO DATE PLACE HOST 388 3/12/2017 Coney Island Mr Ritesh Thakkar and Family 389 07/01/2018 TBA Mrs Kiruthika & Mr Adrian 390 04/02/2018 East Coast Park Mrs. Nisha Maheswary & Family Along the Way… October 2017 Walk Review (walk no 386)The last time we had joined the morning walk was a few years back. On 1st October, the first Sundayof the month, we decided to join the walk at Gardens by the Bay so as to bring my Mother-in-lawout for a mind and body refreshing morning. It was a good decision as we enjoyed the day thoroughlyright from the beginning. Enthusiastic walkers, both young ones and those young at heart, joinedand soon the finally tally that day before we began the walk had reached a staggering 36.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 15

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. November 2017.The sun was up and bright when we did our warm up exercise led by Devdutt Lal. We split intosmaller groups to suit each person’s individual walking pace. Later as we started the walk, SooriyaBhagawan was kind enough to hide behind the clouds and a cool breeze accompanied us as wecontinued along the water front. There’s nothing quite like a brisk walk along river with thepanoramic view of the skyline on one side and the gardens on the other. It was a great bonding timeas members shared their previous walking experiences. We spotted types of floras, not commonlyfound in urban cities, such as Sanghu poo, Thumba poo and sharing the medicinal value of those.Some bright wild flowers along the walking path were feast for our eyes. Also saw few types of theflower of the month, Hibiscus. Took group snaps and ended our walk.When we reached the host, Uncle Kashyap’s house, refreshing drinks and titbits awaited us. Webegan as usual with opening meditation followed by bhajans sung by Kashyap Uncle and his familymembers. We could join in with the heart-warming renditions of songs such as “Jyothi KalashChhalke” thanks to the provided lyrics. We ended off with a passionate beat box performance bythe young man Amit, Kashyap Uncle’s grandson. We were also very fortunate to hear the short andsweet lecture by Dr Sachidananda Mohanty, Vice Chancellor of Central University of Orissa (GuestSpeaker) on how to involve youth in Sri Aurobindo Society Singapore’s activities so that theybecome future torch bearers of this Movement.It was indeed a joyous occasion to celebrate the birthdays of members with a cake to be led by UncleKashyap whose birthday also falls in the month of October. Later we had a sumptuous spread forlunch. As Uncle Kashyap shared that the morning walk, which first started in early 70s has sincebeen going strong with newcomers regularly joining the ever-consistent senior members of thesociety. This unbroken tradition will go a long way from here with everyone’s participation underMother’s Divine Grace. - K.Chandrakala 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 16