May 2022 Newsletter

May 2022 SRI AUROBINDO SOCIETY VOL 36.05 Singapore NEWSLETTER The Inner Journey Peace Joy of Integral Peace Calm and tranquil, an unfailing smile. Crinum Crinum lily, Spider lily Large fragrant white lily like flower with a long narrow green tube and six widely separated slightly recurved petal-like lobes, each with a light pink band down the centre; borne in umbels on long sturdy scapes. A large bulb with strap-like leaves. Peace was the very first thing that the yogis and seekers of old asked for and it was a quiet and silent mind - and that always brings peace -that they declared to be the best condition for realising the Divine. SRI AUROBINDO Peace is a deep quietude where no disturbance can come- a quietude with a sense of established security and release. SRI AUROBINDO Peace is a calm deepened into something that is very positive amounting almost to a tranquil waveless Ananda. SRI AUROBINDO (http://www.blossomlikeaflower.com/2008/05/peace-to-will-what-thou-willest-always.html)

Peace Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2022 Guiding Light of the Month With peace in our hearts, with light in our minds, we feel Thee, O Lord, so living within us that we await events with serenity, knowing that Thy path is everywhere, since we carry it in our own being, and that in all circumstances we can become the heralds of Thy word, the servitors of Thy work. 10 February, 1914 Prayers and Meditations, The Mother From the Editor’s Desk as This issue of the newsletter dwells on Peace as a means deep peace. In the words of The Mother, “It is from and also as a deeper, more intense result of our journey within. The Merriam-Webster dictionary identifies five the Divine that a sadhak receives peace, a peace meanings of peace. What is of interest to us appears in the quite independent from outward circumstances. following definition: “freedom from disquieting or Turn more towards the Divine, aspire for the real inner peace and you will get enough peace to carry oppressive thoughts or emotions.” Similarly, the Online on your work without disturbance.” Oxford Dictionary defines peace as “Freedom from anxiety, disturbance (emotional, mental, or spiritual), or The triple invocation of ‘Shanti’ calls for peace to be inner conflict; calm, tranquillity.” The English word, established in three realms, namely in the realm of ‘Peace’ is derived from the Latin, pacisci, or to agree, to the Adi Bhautika, or the physical realm and the make a pact. invocation goes like, “Let there be no troubles and Interestingly, the first known use of this word ‘Peace’ was Let there be peace from external world e. wild animals, natural disasters and calamities”; in the used as a noun in the 12th century in the sense of what we realm of the Adi Daivika or the Divine, “Let there have defined above, “freedom from disquieting or be no toubles from ghosts, deities demi gods, satan oppressive thoughts or emotions,” and as a verb in 14th etc”; and in the realm of the Adhyaatmika, or internal, “Let there be no trouble and be peace from century, also related to the same meaning. The ancient one’s own body and mind – i.e. let there be no pain, Sanskit language refers to Peace as ‘Shanti’. The use of disease, laziness, other mental or physical agony.” this word in the Indian parlance dates to a few thousand years as we glean from the age of the Vedas, the Upanishads. Even to this day, ‘Shanti’ is uttered on millions of lips a million times in a day world over. This The Shanti mantra were usually chanted at the is indeed a remarkable feat very rarely prevalent with beginning and at the end of religious discourse and other shabdas. Many mantras based on the Vedas and the Upanishads end with the chanting of ‘Shanti’ thrice, as in rituals. In today’s context, it must mean any occasion ‘Om Shanti Shanti Shantih.’ at all when one invokes the divine or takes upon activities and deeds that require a more perfect A quick check on several sites surfaced similar reasons effectuation and completion for progress to be. The Mother says, “It is by a quiet, strong and persistent for the unique repetition of Shanti thrice after invocations peace that the true victories can be won”; “It is only such as in the following site: in tranquillity and peace that one can know what is https://mantrafordeepinnerpeace.wordpress.com/2016/0 5/02/why-do-we-recite-sha the best thing to do.”; and “Truly peace is badly needed—without peace the simplest thing makes at once a big fuss.” It spoke of the deep wisdom of our ancient seers who placed psychological health above all and sought for the The Mother gives a little hint on the greatest form establishment of peace from a higher realm or a higher of Peace and what one could work on: “There is no force which could alone grant that well-being based on a greater peace than that of a pure mind.” www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 2 Peace

Peace Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2022 Savitri Each time he rose there was a larger poise, A dwelling on a higher spirit plane; The Light remained in him a longer space. In this oscillation between earth and heaven, In this ineffable communion’s climb There grew in him as grows a waxing moon The glory of the integer of his soul. A union of the Real with the unique, A gaze of the Alone from every face, The presence of the Eternal in the hours Widening the mortal mind’s half-look on things, Bridging the gap between man’s force and Fate Made whole the fragment-being we are here. At last was won a firm spiritual poise, A constant lodging in the Eternal’s realm, A safety in the Silence and the Ray, A settlement in the Immutable. His heights of being lived in the still Self; His mind could rest on a supernal ground And look down on the magic and the play Where the God-child lies on the lap of Night and Dawn And the Everlasting puts on Time’s disguise. To the still heights and to the troubled depths His equal spirit gave its vast assent: A poised serenity of tranquil strength, A wide unshaken look on Time’s unrest Faced all experience with unaltered peace. Indifferent to the sorrow and delight, Untempted by the marvel and the call, Immobile it beheld the flux of things, Calm and apart supported all that is: His spirit’s stillness helped the toiling world. Inspired by silence and the closed eyes’ sight His force could work with a new luminous art On the crude material from which all is made And the refusal of Inertia’s mass And the grey front of the world’s Ignorance And nescient Matter and the huge error of life. Sri Aurobindo www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 3 Peace

Peace Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2022 Questions & Answers – by The Mother Peace and Silence CALM Be very careful to remain always calm and peaceful and let an integral equanimity establish itself more and more completely in your being. Do not allow your mind to be too active and to live in a turmoil, do not jump to conclusions from a superficial view of things; always take your time, concentrate and decide only in quietness. * Mother, for several days I have been suffering a lot. It is the inner being that suffers and always wants to unite with the divine consciousness but cannot because of the outer consciousness. Mother, really I am suffering. You know that it is indispensable to be calm; you must try hard to become calm. Then in the calm, pray to Sri Aurobindo to give you the right consciousness; pray in all sincerity, with faith and trust. Your prayer will surely be granted one day. * Sometimes I become absolutely quiet, I speak to no one, but just remain within myself, only thinking of the Divine. Is it good to keep this state constantly? It is an excellent state which one can keep quite easily, but it must be sincere; I mean, it should be not a mere appearance of calm but a real and deep calm which spontaneously keeps you silent. * The first step is perfect calm and equanimity. * You must learn to be calm and quiet even in the midst of difficulties. This is the way to overcome all obstacles. * Can “calm” give a solution to all problems? Yes, but for this the calm must be perfect, in all the parts of the being, so that the power may express itself through it. * So that the experience does not become dangerously distorted and painful, you must keep an absolute calm. www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 4 Peace

Peace Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2022 It is only in peace and calm that the Divine Force expresses itself and acts. * It is very good to have recovered the calm. It is in the calm that the body can increase its receptivity and gain the power to contain. * Do not confuse calm with inertia. Calm is self-possessed strength, quiet and conscious energy, mastery of the impulses, control over the unconscious reflexes. In work calm is the source of efficiency and an indispensable condition for perfection. * Increase the inner rest, it must become a rest always present even in the midst of the greatest activity and so steady that nothing has the power to shake it—and then you will become a perfect instrument for the Manifestation. * QUIET It is in quietness, peace and silence that the spiritual forces act. All agitation and excitement come from an adverse influence. * The true Power is always quiet. Restlessness, agitation, impatience are the sure signs of weakness and imperfection. * Keep quiet, try to detach yourself and observe as a witness, to prevent all possibility of acting on impulse. * It is not in the outward circumstances that you must look for quietness, it is from inside yourself. Deep inside the being there is a peace that brings quietness in the whole being down to the body, if we allow it to do so. It is that peace you must seek and then you will get the quietness you wish for. * Quietness is always good and even indispensable for a true and lasting progress. Blessings. www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 5 Peace

Peace Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2022 PEACE The peace must be immense, the quietness deep and still, the calm unshakable, and the trust in the Divine ever-increasing. * It is by a quiet, strong and persistent peace that the true victories can be won. * It is only in tranquillity and peace that one can know what is the best thing to do. * Truly peace is badly needed—without peace the simplest thing makes at once a big fuss. * Nowhere will you be able to find peace unless you have peace in your heart. * If you ask from within for peace, it will come. * When the heart and the mind are at peace, the rest naturally follows. * The vast peace and the calm are there, ready for you to open to them and receive them. * Let the vast peace of the Divine penetrate you entirely and initiate all your movements. * www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 6 Peace

Peace Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2022 It is in the most complete peace, serenity and equality that all is the Divine even as the Divine is all. * Peace of mind must be acquired not through favourable circumstances but through inner transformation. * It is from the Divine that a sadhak receives peace, a peace quite independent from outward circumstances. Turn more towards the Divine, aspire for the real inner peace and you will get enough peace to carry on your work without disturbance. Be peaceful, confident in the divine working. (Words of the Mother Part II) Mother on Peace Whatever has been done in the world has been done by the very few who can stand outside the action in silence; for it is they who are the instruments of the Divine Power. They are dynamic agents, conscious instruments; they bring down the forces that change the world. Things can be done in that way, not by a restless activity. In peace, in silence and in quietness the world was built; and each time that something is to be truly built, it is in peace and silence and quietness that it must be done. It is ignorance to believe that you must run from morning to night and labour at all sorts of futile things in order to do something for the world. Once you step back from these whirling forces into quiet regions, you see how great is the illusion! Humanity appears to you like a mass of blind creatures rushing about without knowing what they do or why they do it and only knocking and stumbling against each other. And it is this that they call action and life! It is empty agitation, not action, not true life. (Questions and Answers 1929-1931) Practicing Inner Peace Most of you live on the surface of your being, exposed to the touch of external influences. You live almost projected, as it were, outside your own body, and when you meet some unpleasant being similarly projected you get upset. The whole trouble arises out of your not being accustomed to stepping back. You must always step back into yourself - learn to go deep within -step back and you will be safe. Do not lend yourself to the superficial forces which move in the outside world. Even if you are in a hurry to do something, step back for a while and you will discover to your surprise how much sooner and with what greater success your work can be done. If someone is angry with you, do not be caught in his vibrations but simply step back and his anger, finding no support or response, will vanish. Always keep your peace, resist all temptation to lose it. Never decide anything without stepping back, never speak a word without stepping back, never throw yourself into action without stepping back. All that belongs to the ordinary world is impermanent and fugitive, so there is nothing in it worth getting upset about. What is lasting, eternal, immortal and infinite www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 7 Peace

Peace Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2022 - that indeed is worth having, worth conquering, worth possessing. It is Divine light, Divine love, Divine life - it is also Supreme Peace, Perfect Joy and All-Mastery upon earth with the Complete Manifestation as the crowning. Then you get the sense of the relativity of things, then whatever happens you can step back and look; you can remain quiet and call on the Divine Force and wait for an answer. Then you will know exactly what to do. Remember, therefore, that you cannot receive the answer before you are very peaceful. Practise that inner peace, make at least a small beginning and go on in your practice until it becomes a habit with you. * In peace, in silence and in quietness the world was built; and each time that something is to be truly built, it is in peace and silence and quietness that it must be done. It is ignorance to believe that you must run from morning to night and labour at all sorts of futile things in order to do something for the world. Once you step back from these whirling forces into quiet regions, you see how great is the illusion.! Humanity appears to you like a mass of blind creatures rushing about without knowing what they do or why they do it and only knocking and stumbling against each other. And it is this that they call action and life! It is empty agitation, not action, not true life. And the silence I speak of is the inner quietude that those alone have who can act without being identified with their action, merged into it and blinded and deafened by the noise and form of their own movement. Stand back from your action and rise into an outlook above these temporal motions; enter into the consciousness of Eternity. Then only you will know what true action is. (CWM Vol. 3) April, 2022 Sunday Activities at the Centre - A glimpse 3 April 2022: Savitri Reading Circle, Book Seven: Canto 5, Psychic Being in Savitri – The Finding of the Soul The session continued with meditating again on the passages from Savitri - The Finding of the Soul- Book 7- Canto 5, from page 526 to 527. Our ancient sages like Agastya, Atharva and Angiras created many slokas like Aditya Hrudayam and Sri Lakshmi Narayana Hrudayam etc.. for the benefit of seekers of the Divine Knowledge and blessings. Our modern Sage Sri Aurobindo has blessed us with “SAVITRI HRUDAYAM” Our meditation on the reading of Savitri brings us close to our Soul for the experience of the Divinity hidden in us. The following passages are taken from “Savitri Study” by MP Pandit. He has made the study more assimilating to our understanding and immersing! “A being stands, immortal in a general transience; deathless, she plays with mortal things. Through her wide eyes of serene happiness unaffected by pity and sorrow, Infinity turns to look at finite forms. She observes the silent tread of Time and the passing scenes of the everlasting play; she shares in the mystery of the determining Will, participates in the Comedy of the Divine Play; she is a conscious representative of the Spirit, God’s delegate in our humanity, friend and companion of the Universe, ray of the Transcendent; she has come into the small dwelling of the mortal body to play, as it were. Her master movement here is to take joy in the world; her eyes are bright with the intensity of this game. For all the bliss and grief of life on earth, she has a smile on her lips; she welcomes both. Her reaction to pleasure and pain is one of laughter. She perceives all things as a show put on by Truth disguised in the garments of Ignorance while she is crossing stretches of Time to Immortality. She is able to face all with the unperturbed peace of the strong spirit. www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 8 Peace

Peace Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2022 She is aware of the struggle of mind and life in this onward course even as a mother feels and shares her children’s lives, and she puts out a small portion of herself — a being of the size of the thumb — into the hidden chamber of the heart, in order to face and bear the pangs of life … forgetting her original nature of bliss, to share the suffering and endure earth’s wounds and participate in the incessant labour of the universe, Angushthamatram (Katha Upanishad). Man is able to go through all because this small portion of the Divine Spirit, the soul, is within him. This soul in us joys and suffers, exults in victory, strives for the highest. It identifies itself with the mind, life and body and bears all their pangs, anguish and defeat, bleeds with the strokes of fate and hangs upon the Cross of suffering imposed by Ignorance. All the while the soul that thus acts on the stage of the human life is supported by the deeper unscarred, immortal self. Through this portion projected in us, the secret Spirit pours into us her glory and her powers and raises us from the gulfs of misery and suffering towards the heights of wisdom; through it she gives us the strength wherewith we can accomplish our daily tasks, the sympathy wherewith we can share the grief of others, the little capacity wherewith we can help our fellow men. And all this we have to do because we have to play our part in this drama in which the puny human form acts the role of the huge universe and we, humans, carry the struggling world on our shoulders. This is our soul, the small and marred godhead in us. In this portion of divinity projected in the human being, the Spirit lodges the greatness of the divine Soul manifesting in Time to uplift the striving human soul from lesser light to greater light, from lesser power to greater power, till it reaches and stands as a king upon a divine peak. The human soul is frail in its body but carries an unconquerable strength in its heart. In its struggling climb to the heights, this striving spirit in a mortal, human shape is upheld by the unseen hand of God. In this chamber of flame and light meet the divine, presiding Soul — the secret Deity — and the striving human soul of Savitri, one calm and immortal, the other — its human part — struggling. They gaze at each other and both come to know who they are. Then with the speed of a magical transformation, both the divine and the human portion rush into each other and become one”. From http://www.collectedworksofsriaurobindo.com/index.php/savitri-study/book-savitri-study/pre- content-study 10 April 2022: Reading on Synthesis of Yoga In session, we read a passage where Sri Aurobindo described how the work of the Yogin can encompass all parts of life. All work must be done for the One Divine and can include all pursuits and expressions of the Truth, whether in the sciences, the processes of the practical aspects of life, and the Arts. All the activities of the Yogin from the mundane to the sublime can be done with this inner feeling - which is not just a mental idea but a living connection - that the One Divine is behind and supports everything. He underpins all the workings of the universe. All work can be done as a sacrifice, and the more we do this the stronger that feeling of connection grows. So that the whole of life and all its activities are done, not merely for personal gratification but rather for a higher, noble and true purpose. 17 April 2022: The Two Negations, ‘The Refusal of the Ascetic’- Chapter 3, from Sri Aurobindo’s - ‘The Life Divine’ In the previous session (on 20th Mar 2022), we studied ‘Chapter 2’ under the title ‘The Materialist Negations’ – For today’s session, ‘Chapter 3’ under the title ‘The Refusal of the Ascetic’ has been taken up. Sri Aurobindo begins this chapter by quoting ‘Verse 2 of Mandukya Upanishad’ with his translation - “All this is the Brahman; this Self is the Brahman and the Self is fourfold” www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 9 Peace

Peace Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2022 and also with the words, “And still there is a beyond”. This beyond refers to a transcendental consciousness, to a consciousness that not merely exceeds the mind, but the universe itself. Sri Aurobindo also refers to Verse 7 of Mandukya Upanishad, with his translation: “He who is neither inward-wise, nor outward-wise, nor both inward- and outward-wise, nor wisdom self- gathered, nor possessed of wisdom, nor unpossessed of wisdom, He Who is unseen and incommunicable, unseizable, featureless, unthinkable, and unnameable, Whose essentiality is awareness of the Self in its single existence, in Whom all phenomena dissolve, Who is Calm, Who is Good, Who is the One than Whom there is no other, Him they deem the fourth ; He is the Self, He is the object of Knowledge. Summary: In this chapter, Sri Aurobindo shifts his focus to the (traditional) spiritual position and view of existence. He describes spirit's benefits, its great insights into the nature of the Reality, but also its limitations; particularly how the Infinite Divine has been experienced apart from life. He also indicates that in fact both the material and the spiritual view of existence have a denial view of life; the former denying the non-material, the latter denying the material. He says that these denials, particularly the reconciliation between spirit and matter, can occur in Man when we move to a cosmic consciousness. There we perceive that matter is a substance of spirit, and spirit manifest as matter in order to enable a greater multiplicity and diversity of itself through those forms. 17 April 2022: Question and Answers by The Mother, Aspiration, Rejection and Surrender The readings selected for Questions and Answers was dated 28 April 1951. The reading commenced with these paragraphs: Outwardly, one believes in one’s own personality and one’s own effort. So long as you believe in personal effort, you must make a personal effort. There is one part of the being which is not at all conscious of being a part of the Divine. The whole of the outer being is convinced that it is something separate, independent and related only to itself. This part of the being must necessarily make a personal effort. It can’t be told, “The Divine does the sadhana for you”, for it would never do anything, it would never be changed. When one speaks with somebody, one should use his language,1 shouldn’t one? The passage revolved around the physical plane, and physical consciousness venturing into physical tamas, offering one’s work and physical nature and consciousness. The same passage will be continued with in the May session. 24 April 2022: Darshan Day - The Mother’s Final Arrival in Pondicherry Concentration, was followed by the reading of two prayers, from 5th February 1913 and 11 May 1913. The Darshan Message was also read out. Some verses from the Upanishads were shared and meditated upon. Following this, Savitri lines were dwelt upon. As a conclusion, a short film on the Four Aspects of The Mother was shown. Indeed a poignant celebration of the anniversary of The Mother’s final arrival in Pondicherry. Jayalakshmi, Rakesh, Krishnamurthy, Jayanthy www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 10 Peace

Peace Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore. May 2022 PROGRAMME FOR THE MONTH OF MAY 2022 DATE TIME DETAILS 6 PM 15 May 2022 Thematic Study Circle by Rakesh: Sunday The Synthesis of Yoga 15 May 2022 5 PM Vedic Mantras from The Life Divine by Krishnamurthy and Sunday 6 PM Jared 7 PM 10 Apr 2022 Mother’s Questions and Answers by Shailaja Sunday Youth Programme 29 May 2022 6 PM Readings and Reflections: The Inner Journey by Jayanthy Sunday 6 PM Vedic Mantras from The Life Divine by Krishnamurthy and 22 May 2022 7 PM Jared Sunday Youth Programme *Details can be found in the SAS Whatsapp Printed and Published by The Sri Aurobindo Society of Singapore 2A Starlight Road 01-07, Singapore 217755. Anand Venkat: 86126067 or [email protected]; Anand Patel:[email protected]; Email: [email protected] Visit our website at: www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg www.sriaurobindosociety.org.sg 11 Peace