June 2018 Newsletter - Web

June 2018 SRI AUROBINDO SOCIETY VOL 32.06 Singapore Permit No. MCI (P) 102/02/2018 NEWSLETTER The Way of Fate and the Problem of Pain The flower of Godhead grows on the world-treeBotanical Name: Clivia MiniateCommon Name: Kaffar lilySpiritual Significance: Conversion of the aim of life from the ego to the Divine Once in the immortal boundlessness of Self, In a vast of Truth and Consciousness and Light The soul looked out from its felicity. - Savitri, Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2018. Guiding Light of the Month OH, let Light be poured on all the earth and Peace inhabit every heart. . . . Almost all know only the material life heavy, inert, conservative, obscure; their vital forces are so tied to this physical form of existence that, even when left tothemselves and outside the body, they are still solely occupied with these material contingencies that are yet so harassing and painful. . . . The Mother, ‘Prayers and Meditations’ October 7, 1914 From the Editor’s DeskThe theme for the June Newsletter is derived from kind of desires we want to be fulfilled and fulfilled badly. What could be the reason for this vehemence?Book 6, Canto 2 of Savitri – The Way of Fate and Next, what kind of expectations do we hold ofthe Problem of Pain. In this theme is revealed in ourselves, of those around us, of circumstances? Whygreat detail the incumbent pain inflicted on mortal does disappointment set in when expectations are notbeings by unrelenting Providence, the manner in met? Is it fair to expect something out of someone orwhich the sentence of fate is received by the Providence? Why should these expectations bemortal, the plane from which an ordinary human fulfilled at all? Now, lets look at how we receivebeing reacts against it, reeling in misery, and the pain? Do we embrace pain and sink into somevoice of reason and more than that, the voice of the depression, quite enjoying it, without quite knowingseer which rises above the din of denial and with it or refusing this knowledge? How easy is it to sinkan all-seeing vision, spells our patiently the into a depressive position? On the contrary, how easypurpose and power of pain to mortals and to a or difficult is it to resist this temptation of dipping intoworld redeemer like Savitri and the possible depression? How difficult is it to rise above and holdmanner in which one could deal with it and paves on to some high resolve we have of not feelingthe path clear for that saviour soul to do what she daunted by undesirable pronouncements?has to as she traverses the path chosen despiteimpending doom. This canto in Savitri is one of With these inquiry, now let us re-visit the scenario in the palace at Madra, where King Aswapathy, histhe most intimate, the most relevant to the human queen, and Savitri are sharing a momentous time oflot we are, and to which we can all relate well with. their lives with Sage Narad, who pronounces the word of fate and then brings all present through theIt, in many ways, makes us also take a glimpse and meaning of pain and how the common lot brings painor even a plunge into our own planes of being, unto itself and repeats the cycles aeon after aeon, given its ignorance. He also urges them that pain hasespecially the vital. Besides this, we are also led, a divine purpose too:by Narad the sage, to take another view of life Pain is the hammer of the Gods to breakbordering the Supramental regions and a Life A dead resistance in the mortal's heart,…Divine, that pain can facilitate eventually. In that Pain is the hand of Nature sculpturing menrealm, the pain of life takes another meaning, thepurpose of pain serves a higher function inliberating the human soul and setting it upon thehigh road towards transcendence and To greatness: an inspired labour chiselstransformation. With heavenly cruelty an unwilling mould. He appeases the queen mother and paves the path forLet us contemplate on pain and why it is Savitri’s advance:problematic to us, if at all. Usually pain comes out Think not to intercede with the hidden Will,of desires unfulfilled and expectations unmet. Intrude not twixt her spirit and its forceThese are sources of heaviness, disappointments But leave her to her mighty self and Fate.and depression. One can have desires. It is And so is Savitri left to embark on her life’s greatreasonable also to expect desires to be fulfilled. It journey, her life’s Quest.would be pertinent also to keep a ‘log’ on whatwww.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 2

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2018. Savitri, a journey of Love and Light A greatness in thy daughter’s soul resides That can transform herself and all around, But must cross on stones of suffering to its goal. Although designed like a nectar cup of heaven, Of heavenly ether made she sought this air, She too must share the human need of grief And all her cause of joy transmute to pain. (Savitri)www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 3

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2018. This mortal life shall house Eternity's blissSage Narad has unveiled Savitri's future; a future that is death. But Savitri, undaunted, has accepted thechallenge, and instead of changing her path, has decided to travel on the same road, although fraught withseeming annihilation. And she has uttered the word of fate that she believes more in her own immortaldestiny than in the blind workings of a mechanical God. The king and the rishi sit quiet looking straight intothe \"eyes of Fate\", not willing to disturb the workings of Providence. But Savitri's mother will not so easilybe silenced. Although she is the queen, yet is she a human mother also who cannot bear ill luck to befall herchild. Aswapati's queen decides to arraign Destiny itself.In this turbulent condition of mind, she loses all balance; her mind that had hitherto won for itself a place onthe higher planes of living now descends into the vital plane where ordinary human passions rage and rule.To her now earthly mind, the workings of destiny come as an unnatural shock. In her throat rises thedesperate cry of all humanity that groans under the load of a freakish destiny. Mankind is essentially ignorant of the cause that produces the effect of human pain. Forced into a tragiccondition man cries out why there should be all this grief and pain. Savitri's mother too questions the sage: By what pitiless adverse Necessity Or what cold freak of a Creator's will, By what random accident or governed Chance That shaped a rule out of fortuitous steps, Made destiny from an hour's emotion, came Into the unreadable mystery of Time The direr mystery of grief and pain?Why should there be these perversions, these tumours and cankers in this world which should essentially bea beautiful creation of God? Did God make his handiwork successfully, and did some demon comeafterwards to wreck its harmony? Something must have gone wrong with creation even from the beginning:A fatal seed was sown in life's false startWhen evil twinned with good on earthly soil.With the sowing of this dragon seed, there,.. .first appeared the malady of mind,Its pang of thought, its quest for the aim of life.Man had eaten the forbidden fruit, alas! No more for him the life in blessed ignorance and unfeelingmatter; the free and simple ways, the guileless frankness, are lost forever. The birth of 'mind' has usheredin the vicious circle of evil and pain. Heaven has breathed into him reason, mind, intellect and imagination.The rose of man has bloomed in its fullness. But in this very rose of humanity the canker of tragedy finds aplace and reduces the human flower to nought.A grisly company of maladiesCome, licensed lodgers, into man's bodily house,Purveyors of death and torturers of life.And the result? Life is a marvel missed, an art gone wry;….God's gift of this bright and pleasant world to man is itself darkened by a shadow overhanging it. AllNature is ambivalent; there is a good, bright side, and withal, a bad and cloudy side too.Error is the comrade of our mortal thoughtAnd falsehood lurks in the deep bosom of truth,www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 4

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2018.Sin poisons with its vivid flowers of joyOr leaves a red scar burnt across the soul;Virtue is a grey bondage and a gaol.At every step is laid for us a snare.Torn and frustrated at the very beginning of our benevolent thoughts and honest actions, we espy in thisworld only a wreckage before and a desert after:A growing register of calamitiesIs the past's account, the future's book of Fate.Not satisfied with fate's wreckage, man also contrives miseries of his own doing. He commits countlessblasphemies and unthinkable follies and brings retribution upon himself. And drunk with Faustus-likesuccess he invades the secret chambers of Nature and commits again sacrilege of various kinds:His science is an artificer of doom;He ransacks earth for means to harm his kind;He slays his happiness and others' good.These researches of man will bring him no good, for he has lost the Godhead's seal that alone could makehis science holy and fruitful. Instead, his science is pursued for selfish ends and brings him only doom anddeath. But in spite of the heavy budget of dooms, he has not grown any wiser; still he takes the same path oftragedy and falls headlong into the same pit of Hell. Centuries of bitter lessons have not made him take thepath of Dharma. He has remained what he ever was; still does he fight and war for selfish ends, and bedewsMother Earth with innocent blood. Not only does he go in search of the Devil's tools, but he also destroysthe good in the world. Some wise men create something beautiful, but there are others to destroy the work:War making nought the sweet smiling calm of life,Battle and rapine, ruin and massacreAre still the fierce pastimes of man's warring tribes;An idiot hour destroys what centuries made,His wanton rage or frenzied hate lays lowThe beauty and greatness by his genius wroughtAnd the mighty output of a nation's toil.Thus man unmakes God's beautiful and kindly creation and \"wallows in his self-made misery\". What is thislife on earth, made miserable by ruthless fools? Is it not merely \"an episode in a meaningless tale?\" It hasbeen said that we have come here from a heavenly source, and that in us is lodged the heavenly Life-spark.It has also been said that the ultimate goal of our life is to return to our harbour-home, that golden source ofthe Life Divine. If that were so, if we are of Heaven and are to return there again, where is the need for thisstrange savage interlude of the earth? Why should we be made to pass through this aimless futile drama ofpain, terror, rapine and death? The queen's mind is indeed a whirl of questions. Why, why this tragedy of aworld signifying nothing? Is all the world, is all life, a mere illusion? In the end, the tragedy that threatensSavitri turns her mother almost into a nihilist.Perhaps the soul we feel is only a dream,Eternal self a fiction sensed in trance.The queen is a woman, and being also a mother, she has come to a stage when the higher thinking powershave been numbed by the shadow of a doom. Now it behoves Narad to guide the sorely afflicted queen outof the labyrinth of her ignorance. So the eternal seer begins:Was then the sun a dream because there is night?Hidden in the mortal's heart the Eternal lives:...www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 5

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2018.It is the cloud of unknowing that prompts us to deny the light of the world and the spirit. The sun does notcease to exist during the night. Even so, the presence of tragedy does not exclude the reality of the Eternalspirit that abides in our inmost heart. Our own ignorance veils the light within us, even from ourselves.Because of this ignorance in mankind pain was born, for pain naturally follows ignorance. And it is also truethat one cannot attain joy without first undergoing pain. But for the throes of labour, there would be no birth.Even in the beginning of things, \"by pain Lifestirred in the subliminal deep\"; so does pain through shock and difficulty push mankind to the heights: Pain is the hammer of the Gods to break A dead resistance in the mortal's heart, His slow inertia as of living stone.The image of the Superman is hewn out of the earthy mortal by inflicting on him the pain of death. Unlesswe are tested and tempered by failures, we would rest quite Oblomov-like in a trance of success and missthe chance of self-transcendence, for it is when we are struck by tragedy that we wish to transcend to thehigher states: If the heart were not forced to want and weep, His soul would have lain down content, at ease, And never thought to exceed the human start And never learned to climb towards the Sun.Hence the Divine Mother cries out for yet bigger and acuter trials for mankind, so that out of the tremendouslabour and pain a greater creation may come into being. Vain are the deluded cries of mortals like the queenagainst the pain inflicted by Providence: Pain is the hand of Nature sculpturing men To greatness: an inspired labour chisels With heavenly cruelty an unwilling mould.In every mortal resides the divine spark; it is to be fanned into a divine flame. The greater the pain the mortalundergoes, the sooner will it assume its real glow. Of course it is all very easily said, but actually the cosmicpain and the cosmic evolution implicit in the process are indescribable. It is on those who are selected toundergo this cosmic suffering, it is on those who wish to save this world, that the mantle of thorns unerringlyfalls. They are the persons who have to undergo this cosmic pain. As examples Narad (or Sri Aurobindo)projects before us the vision of Christ and the vision of Shiva. There is Christ who has \"drunk the bitter cup\"and who \"has signed salvation's testament with his blood\": It is finished, the dread mysterious sacrifice, Offered by God's martyred body for the world; Gethsemane and Calvary are his lot, He carries the cross on which man's soul is nailed; His escort is the curses of the crowd; Insult and jeer are his right's acknowledgement; Two thieves slain with him mock his mighty death. He has trod with bleeding brow the Saviour's way. He who has found his identity with God Pays with the body's death his soul's vast light. His knowledge immortal triumphs by his death.It is clear that Narad here wants to prepare Savitri's mind and strengthen her will by describing thetribulations of the world-redeemers. She herself is one; Narad tells her how Christ and Shiva did their tasksunflinchingly, undaunted by death or poison. Mankind has its ills and pains; no human being is exemptfrom them. But the tortures that a saviour of mankind has to undergo are tremendous and have epicdimensions. The pertinent question would of course be: Why should a saviour be subjected to these mortalwww.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 6

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2018.tribulations? But even a saviour must know what afflicts mankind before he could prescribe the necessarycure: Exempt and unafflicted by earth's fate, How shall he cure the ills he never felt? Therefore Christ had to undergo the jeers of the lewd people and had to be nailed on the cross. It is forthe same purpose Shiva had to drink the poison from the sea. To save mankind, God dons a mortal garb,undergoes human suffering and ultimately even 'dies' to give birth to a brave new world. The saviour'ssituation is terrible indeed. The very people whom he has sought to save turn against him, mock at him, anddo their best to wreck his hard-wrought handiwork.This is because there is a dark spot in man's own mind that continuously instigates the lower instincts in him,and drags him to Hell. Hence, however often the great saviours come to this earth, they in the end succeedin saving only a few. So, first of all, a \"larger light\" must come and clear man's heart of the dark spots, andhand him over as a clear plate for God to write thereon the Song Celestial of Eternal Life.The ordinary mind of man must give way to a \"supramental plane of mind\" where everything is pure white,and nothing sullies its white radiance. Till that is done,.. .till the evil is slain in its own homeAnd Light invades the world's inconscient baseAnd perished has the adversary Force,He still must labour on, his work half done.The world-redeemer, the divine soul, stands steadfast in this tremendous task, and is neither tired nor dauntedby failures and difficulties. His will is of steel, his determination of iron. In spite of the barriers and troubles,In the dreadful passages, the fatal paths,Invulnerable his soul, his heart unslain,He lives through the opposition of earth's PowersAnd Nature's ambushes and the world's attacks.This saviour who has understood the way-s of the world and the workings of fate, the gnostic being,undergoes the darkest of earth's terrors, the acutest of the world's pains and the deepest of human sufferings,so that he may bring to the dark world—even to the dark world—the Light Divine: He must enter the eternity of Night And know God's darkness as he knows his Sun. For this he must go down into the pit, For this he must invade the dolorous Vasts. Having passed through this dark night of the soul, the gnostic being would emerge into the EternalLight.The superconscient beam shall touch men's eyesAnd the truth-conscious world come down to earthInvading Matter with the Spirit's ray,Awaking its silence to immortal thoughts,Awaking the dumb heart to the living Word.This mortal life shall house Eternity's bliss,Tie body's self taste immortality.Then shall the world-redeemer's task be done.After this lucid account of man's spiritual becoming, Narad turns to the immediate problem and warns thewww.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 7

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2018.queen not to meddle with the decree of Providence. Any attempt to assume a greater cunning, and try tochange the course of destiny, would bring the late that befalls the titans. The path of the titans is self-destructive. By denying God's sovereignty the titan brings retribution on his own head. The queen will bewell advised not to tempt Providence. But if she will bear her yoke patiently by strengthening her will, allwill yet turn out well.Thy spirit's strength shall make thee one with God,Thy agony shall change to ecstasy,Indifference deepen into infinity's calmAnd joy laugh nude on the peaks of the Absolute.While trying to explain to the queen the birth of pain in this world, Narad tells her a short parable. The spiritof mankind was originally perfection itself. But the spirit was not content to rest in its perfect state. It wishedto see what the world was like. In this adventure it descended into the lower levels and travelled through thevital planes. In this original descent was the fall that brought pain in its wake.As a result the inner splendour was veiled from its casket, man. The forbidden fruit had been plucked andeaten. So the pain of knowledge came and, with it, this half-seen, little understood, undefined world:Thus came, born from a blind tremendous choice,This great perplexed and discontented world,This haunt of Ignorance, this home of Pain:There are pitched desire's tents, grief's headquarters.A vast disguise conceals the Eternal's bliss.Pain is now quite natural to mankind, and a world-redeemer like Savitri has to carry her own tremendousload of pain and affliction. The king now questions the sage whether there is any power in man to save himself, or is he merely ruledby an external spirit. He had heard, on her birth, that such an inner power had descended with Savitri. Is notthis inner power equal to the task of facing the threatened fate? Can she not save herself from pain throughthe exercise of this power? In answer, Narad tells the king that the Superior Divine rejects the prayers ofunthinking mankind for unbroken joy on the mortal plane. It is true that Savitri is born with an imprisonedsplendour:A greatness in thy daughter's soul residesThat can transform herself and all aroundBut even she, the daughter of Aswapati, \"must cross on stones of suffering to its goal\". Man's mentalmachine is limited in its scope, and cannot perceive the integral truth and the self that lurks behind the lawof the universe. The limited vision of man sees only a lifeless law in the workings of the universe and thusmisses the fact that the spirit of man works along with the wisdom and spirit of the Universe.For Savitri's future, the external spirit, God, has pronounced its decree. Now it remains for the internal sparkto burst into a flame. But it is not for Narad to say what exactly is going to happen:It is decreed and Satyavan must die;The hour is fixed, chosen the fatal stroke.What else shall be is written in her soulFate's decree is not altogether final; \"Man can accept his fate, he can refuse\". And if man is thwarted once,he can always rise again and again to fulfil his real destiny. The true seeker after Truth will not be frightenedeven by the dread alarm of fate. So if Savitri's destiny is to achieve ultimate victory, she will never waver inher quest for the Life Divine. Even if trouble and pain lie before her, she will not fail to advance.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 8

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2018.Hence the king need entertain no doubts regarding her future, and try to change the course of her destiny.And neither Aswapati nor his queen should try to separate the young lovers because of the encircling doom.The present situation is all for the best:In vain thou mournst that Satyavan must die;His death is a beginning of greater life,Death is the spirit's opportunity.A vast intention has brought two souls closeAnd love and death conspire towards one great end.Narad further tells the queen to leave the course of destiny to its own fulfilment. Nor need she think thatSavitri is too trail and weak to be the agent of the world's redemption:Sometimes one life is charged with earth's destiny,It cries not for succour from the time-bound powers.Alone she is equal to her mighty task.Soon will a day come when, armed by her own will, she will be facing alone a mighty power. But in herloneliness she will find her strength:The great are strongest when they stand alone.A God-given might of being is their force,A ray from self's solitude of light the guide;thus armed and strengthened, Savitri will have to face the day,.. .when she must stand unhelpedOn a dangerous brink of the world's doom and hers,Carrying the world's future on her lonely breast,Carrying the human hope in a heart left soleTo conquer or fail on a last desperate verge,. . .Must cross alone a perilous bridge in TimeAnd reach an apex of world-destinyWhere all is won or all is lost for man. In that hour neither the queen nor anybody else can help her, \"alone she must conquer or alone mustfall\". The queen would do better to stand back and leave Savitri to work out mankind's destiny: Think not to intercede with the hidden Will, Intrude not twixt her spirit and its force But leave her to her mighty self and Fate.Having done his appointed task of enlightening the queen and strengthening Savitri's will, Narad nowvanishes from the human scene. But even after he has gone, even after the holy seer has merged with theskies, the listening souls on earth, the king, the queen and Savitri, hear a golden song of hope from the eternalheavens: A high and far imperishable voice Chanted the anthem of eternal love.(An excerpt from “Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri – A study of the cosmic epic”, Dr. Premanandakumar, SriAurobindo Ashram Trust, Puducherry)www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 9

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2018. Flowers Speak… Will manifested in life Concentrated and precise Who laid on it the ceaseless will to live A wanderer in this beautiful sorrowful world, And bear its load of joy and grief and love? Savitri Life energy Powerful and manifold, meets all needs Thy spirit’s strength shall make thee one with God, Thy agony shall change to ecstasy, Indifference deepen into infinity’s calm And joy laugh nude on the peaks of the Absolute. Savitri Splendour and opulence in Material life Can become widespread only through transformation A Magician’s formulas have made Matter’s laws And while they last, all things by them are bound: But the Spirit’s consent is needed for each act And freedom walks in the same pace with Law. Savitri(Flowers and Messages, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Puducherry)www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 10

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2018. The joy of flowersShe is the hollyhocksResplendent and joyfulShe is an offeringShe is the periwinklesSmiling and tinyShe is progressShe is the lotusGrand and majesticShe is wealthShe is the dahliasBright and her smiling faceShe is nobilityShe is the neem flowersHumble, sweet and very silentShe is spiritualityShe is the flowers, SandhyaClose to her heartSweet and pureShe is our Sweet Mother. March-April Sunday Activities at the Centre - A glimpseApril 22nd – Self-Dynamising Meditation using Savitri and Huta PaintingsAfter the last month’s overall view of all the Cantos of Book 3 (‘The Book of the Divine Mother’), wetook a deep dive – first in ‘The Pursuit of the unknowable’ and next the pursuit for the symbol OM.Ashwapathy’s darshan of ‘The God Head of the Whole’ after entering through the space between theslayer and saviour fires endows him with the apprehending consciousness of the Supermind but stillmisses its fully comprehending consciousness – the hidden all-encompassing voice that chants to thecreator fire, the symbolled OM, the great assenting Word. We continued our attempt to weave using thethreads of the last ten months of glimpses into a Spiritual fabric. This Book provided us the perfectframework for aligning with the Future Poetry Jared is navigating us through. Here we can discover theessence and secret of the whole creation of which poetry is just a part.May 6th and 13th – The Future PoetryJared navigated us through the key points of Chapter VI: The National Evolution of Poetry and ChapterVII: The Character of English Poetry I. Greek poetry was singled out for its powerful influence throughits perfection while taking life from a whole large view-point. It worked always from the inspired reason,used a luminous intellectual observation and harmonized all it did by the rule of an enlightened andchastened aesthetic sense. Jared also highlighted some passages from Sri Aurobindo’s Illion. This is setin quantitative hexameter which He had admired - the chosen vehicle of Homer, Virgil and other greatGreek and Latin poets. We also discussed about the influence of the national soul on the poetry and theother artistic expressions. - Ramadosswww.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 11

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2018. PROGRAMME FOR THE MONTH OF MAY 2018 DATE TIME DETAILS3rd June 2018 8 AM 6 PM Monthly Morning Walk* Sunday 6 PM AIM Magazine Reading and Discussion3rd June 2018 Thematic Study Circle Part I: Sunday The Future Poetry10th June 2018 Thematic Study Circle Part II Sunday The Future Poetry17th June 2018 6 PM Youth Programme: Sunday The Psychic Being24th June 2018 4 PM Savitri Circle Sunday 6 PM24th June 2018 Sunday* Please see below for details.Date: JUNE 2018 MORNING WALK – NO. 394Time:Walk Venue: Sunday, 3rd June 2018Meeting Point: 8:00 A.M. sharp for warm up exercise. East Coast Park Car Park E1 along East Coast Service RoadContact No: Mr. S.Ramanathan (HP: 91385130)Directions Car: Take East Coast Park Services Road and look for Car Park E1 Bus: 31, 43, 47, 48, 55, 155, 196, 197, 853C. Alight at Marine Parade Road near Siglap MRT (under construction). Walk via Siglap Link to reach underpass behind Laguna Park Condominium-> cross the underpass to reach Car Park E1.Hosts: Mr. Anand & Vrundah Patel, Block 3, Tanah Merah Kechil Road, # 02-05, The Tana Merah, Singapore 466664 (very near Tanah Merah MRT Station) RSVP: HP 98307621 (Anand), 98206389 (Vrundah); email: [email protected]: 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.www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 12

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2018.PREVIEW OF FORTHCOMING SUNDAY MORNING WALKSWALK NO DATE PLACE HOST 395 1/7/18 TBA Mr Sanjay Mehta & Family 396 5/8/18 397 2/9/18 Botanical Gardens Mr KV Rao & Family 398 7/10/18 Bedok Reservoir Mr Arjun Madan Gardens by the Bay Mr Shashilal Kashyap & Family Along the Way… May Walk Review (walk no 393)It was 6th of May and we started off from our house to join the walk at East Coast Park. We eagerly awaitthe first Sunday of the month, where we meet and greet our friends and start off the month with a pleasantmood.As usual, we were greeted by the familiar smiling faces at the Park. It is this starting of the walk that reallymakes it a day. The most awaited walk in the park with a group of people who we feel are our own and toenjoy the beauty of the ever giving nature that is surrounding us, which we often take for granted.We were greeted at the park by the host Shri Ashok Patel. We really missed Shri Kashyap uncle, who willsoon be able to join us in the coming walks and Mr Ramanathan.The moments that we cherish at the walk remain with us forever. I remember, in one of the walks at EastCoast Park, sometime last year. It was drizzling, but Kashyap uncle was there with an umbrella in his handand giving us the inspiration. Then we all started off with umbrella in our hands and we completed thewalk.We started off with a group of nine people, but later on were pleased to be joined by the family of four ofAdi.It was a sunny morning, and there were a few groups performing their activities and some other morningwalkers who were enjoying and getting soaked in the morning Sun.The sea was very near, with a few ships looking like they were stranded in the water. The Sun was above,the sea by the side and the sands were not too far. Obviously, such a pleasant atmosphere brings us toremember the beautiful lines from Savitri—not just lines, but Mantras:“Along a path of aeons serpentineIn the coiled blackness of her nescient course The Earth Goddess toils across the sands of Time”----Book I, Canto IVIt appeared to be a long stretch at the park, but not too long.From Savitri----“Above were the Immortal’s changeless seatsWhite chambers of dalliance with EternityAnd the stupendous gates of the Alone.Across the unfolding of the seas of selfwww.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 13

Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. June 2018.Appeared the deathless countries of the One”.—Book I, Canto VWith that pleasant mood, we made our way to uncle Patel’s house, where we were greeted with a warmwelcome by all the members of the family and they were pleased to have all of us at their place for thesplendid brunch, which was no less than a sumptuous lunch.After the meditation, a few prayers were read and after the brunch and the closing meditation, we allstarted off to go back to our house, only to await the next month’s walk. -Kiran Sule 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 14