A little knowledge.....

I'm posting this here because of frustration more than anything, and because it might strike a chord with someone.
Until recently, I was subscribed to a Sri Aurobindo mailing/discussion list, run by some people in the US who call themselves the Sri Aurobondo society or something similar. Right from the start, I have had doubts about the thing, because after reading a few mails, it became evident to me that little real knowledge of Sri Aurobindo's philosophy was displayed by any of the posters.
Some were too emotional in tone, and some seem to think Sri A was trying to start a new religion, despite his frequent statements to the contrary.

It ended when I recieved a mail from the society's president, who informed me that the only one of Sri A's major works he's read is 'Synthesis of Yoga', and bits and pieces of 'Savitiri', but had read a lot of secondary literature - ie books about Sri A's ideas.
The general line was that he should know better than me, simply because he's 'president'.

Would I claim to be a fit person to head up a society dedicated to a philosophy of which I have only a fragmentary knowlwedge?
No - I think it would be phoney, and whilst it might get me social 'brownie points' or make me feel like an important fellow etc, it would be dishonest and really, plain foolish.

Yet that's the situation.

So - I wonder. Are these people really serious? Or are they just playing?
Is it actually for some, a wholly negative ego based thing to be involved in 'yoga' societies? A way of getting power etc?
To what extent is this kind of thing part of socities dedicated to other teachers and their works?

Anyway - IMO to arrive at any kind of meaningful overview of Sri A's philosophy it is neccesary to look at the whole of the teaching, even if that means much reading. Otherwise, there is a danger of fatal misunderstanding. It would be easy for a person to get some knowledge of a part of the teaching, and take that for the whole, whilst at the same time, projecting onto it all their own religious and other prejudices.

I know there are no other admirers of Sri A on these forums, but I just wanted to get that off my chest. It annoyed me. Just shows how fast things get downgraded once the visionary who has a new idea is gone and followers take over.

In fact, I do have my doubts about Sri A's ideas - but at least that's based on knowledge. Another concern of mine is that to get to the point where one can even begin to see the cracks in the system, a pretty comprehensive study is required. So one could waste years being 'president' or whatever, only one day to come across something in a book which would put the whole thing into queer street. In that time, one might have been responsible for misleading a good many people.

Rant over.

 

Bill...you know about the ISKCON problems and splinter groups; Yogananda's Self-Realization Fellowship has had plenty of its own, though not so publicized and dramatic...on and on.


No doubt, it's an ego trip for some to achieve importance in spiritual societies...Yoga, Christian, Buddhist...the list goes on and on. Also an easy way to get laid once you're established.

All it takes is a semi-charismatic manner...i.e., good bullshit skills...and a little knowledge of the subject , and you're off to the races.

 

Actually, my friend, you are NOT the only admirer of Sri Aurobindo. I may not have read many of his books, but I have spent time in Auroville, I have tasted first hand the peace that lingers there still. And just the very sight of him, the keeness and love in his eyes... I have no doubt he is a parama jnani.

 

Correct...regarding Sri A, I've become more familiar with him through other recent reading...I think he was too esoteric for me at 20 but I would now have the patience. On my to-read list.

 

I remember searching the web for Sri Aurobindo after reading a prison story of his posted on another forum. But I couldn't find any good sources sadly.

 

http://intyoga.online.fr/index.htm

This is quite a good site, with some extensive online rescources.

 

If I had to recommend one work of his, it would have to be 'The Life Divine', an encyclopedic book, in which he presents the main lines of his philososophy - although nothing on the practical level.
Most of his actual instruction in yoga ia contained in 'Letters on Yoga'.

I have great respect for Sri Aurobindo, and I think he is an important figure in the general process of bringing in a new consciousness on this earth - but also perhaps a trasitionary teaching, as things have changed since Sri Aurobindo's time, and now perhaps, look a little different. It seems for instance that future science may be able to accomplish some of the things Sri A wanted to achieve through yoga - things like for example, life-extension. Perhaps life extending drugs or therapy will become a reality in this century.

 

my apologies - once again I didn't phrase what I said very well.

 

Thanks, Bill. I'll check it out.

When you say "Life Divine" is encyclopedic, are you speaking...literally? My attention span hasn't improved that much in 37 years.

 

It's a very long work - over 1,000 pages. I said 'encyclopedic' because in it, he goes into just about every angle of Indian philosophy, and examines many different possible views, before presenting his own conclusions.

This is one of the problems with Sri Aurobindo's work - it's extremely voluminous, and there's no shorter book which he wrote which gives a full account.

There are various compilations - perhaps one of those might be the place to begin.

 

It sounds very interesting, but in reality I wouldn't finish anything near that long...you're right, I'll search Amazon or abebooks for something more condensed.

 

That was my problem as well. Personally I have found full intellectual satisfaction, and all my reading circles around bringing what I know into experience, which is through material thats either devotional or inspiring and light, a springboard for contemplation.

 

I did it...ordered hardbound full edition of The Life Divine from Amazon last night.

Exclent price, free deliv. I will attempt to read it; if I don't get all the way through, it will be good reference and a permanent addition to my library in any case.

Right now I'm reading Bede Griffiths' The Hindu Way to God and John Shelby Spong's The Sins of Scripture...getting close on both; compared to Sri A, both books are very short.

Bhaskar, generally 250 to 300 pages is reasonable length for me, unless exceptional...I tend to lose interest after that length.

 

Good luck with the book. I'm sure that if you take it a bit at a time, you'll get some very interesting insights from Sri Aurobindo. It is actually in 3 parts, so you can also have a break and return to it later on.

IMO parts 1 and 2 are easier going than part three.

Bhaskar - it's up to each one to decide for themself what to read or study based on their own unique being. I've often mentioned on these forums that I think Sri Aurobindo's writings are a discouragement for many people. I myself would probably not have read 'The Life Divine' when I was in my 20's - it wasn't until I was in my forties that I began to take an interest in Sri Aurobindo. Once I got the bug, as they say, I had to continue until I felt I had a good overview of the system he proposed.
All of that relates to my own personal path or development, and I'm certainly not trying to say that Sri A, or indeed anything else, is for everyone.

One of my main criticisms as I've also said before, is the fact that at the same time as saying that mental or intellectual philosophy is limited and can't give the desired realization, he wrote tens of thousands of pages of such philosophy, and in a form which isn't exactly accessible, esp. to young western people to-day who are conditioned by the media sound-bite age.
Sri Aurobindo was a product of the 19th century - and of a much more intellectual culture than we see to-day. I think he forsaw the future in some ways, but not in others.

But in general, I think the intellect is good, provided we don't get too dominated by it. My studies of purely mundane areas like sociology showed me the value of having the capacity to see the structure on an intellectual level of theories of society, and the same is true in the area of religious philosophies too.
What I'm struggling to say here, is that I think the intellect and rationalism etc have their place, but we need also the transcendent, and too much intellectualism can actually be block to that.
Myself, I often get to a point where I just think, well, so what? and go into something more direct - a feeling perhaps, but more than a feeling. I'm sure you know what I mean.

 

I wonder if that's why they are so strict now...we had two women from the Boston SRF Meditation group speak for my woman's group and the guy whom I was in contact with said they had to get permission to speak from CA and also when they were there ...they said they couldn't talk as much about their personal views or something because the teaching was instructed to be made pure and kept that way...

---

As to Sri Aurobindo...I have read bits of his poetry (esp. Savitri...which the bits I have read...I have liked)...but he's not for me really...but of course he was an extremely important member of the yoga movement and inspired so many others as well.

It is sort of sad that the head of the society didn't even know his works or whatever...that's kind of hypocritical... you know ...just a bit

 

You could be right about SRF. Anyway, it is probably better to keep personal views aside if you 'reprazent' -

'Savitiri' - some say Sri Aurobindo's greatest work. It is certainly an impressive achievement. The disadvantage is that it's extremely long and in places a bit impenetrable. Myself, I think perhaps the age of the epic poem is gone - but poetry is a very personal thing as I'm sure you'd agree.


I'm not really a devotee or follower of Sri Aurobindo (I thought about it at one stage)- Although it's taken me some time and some twists and turns, I've had to really just assimilate as much as possible of what seems good to me in his work and continue on my own road....hope that makes sense. I certainly gained from reading his works, and I'd put him among the top few philosophers of the first half of the 20th century. Just as a pure philosopher that is. On a par with Russell, Witgenstein and the rest. What makes him different from them, is his innate mystical gifts. And the actual content of his work is definitely part of what I see as a new consciousness emerging in a new age in which we are living even now.

All of you here on this forum are part of that.

 

Well dont you think thats the problem with the society today as a whole? Many people do things for the sake of position, money, power or recognition. It has nothiing to do with things that matter, like knowledge, realization, learning etc.

 

I agree 100%.

 

Same thing goes for ISKCON...official society policy is anyone who wants to move into a temple has to pass a personality/background screening and AIDS bloodtest..how strictly that's been implemented, I don't know
---

You're not by yourself in this...before I signed on here in spring '04 my spiritual reading had been limited 95% to ISKCON pubs for years...but I was also very, very busy with many aspects of life, if that's an excuse. I've got plenty of my own time time now.

Credit goes to the regulars here for inspiring me to branch out.

 

Good post Bill, alot of common sense and wisdom in those words.