Friday, May 1, 2015

Deep dissention within Sri Aurobindo Ashram

  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty24 Mar
Odishi music and dance festival at IIC, Delhi http://wp.me/p23wJC-5A  via @wordpressdotcom
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty24 Mar
People operate with diverse systems of belief and we can live with this incoherence http://selforum.blogspot.in/2013/03/people-operate-with-diverse-systems-of.html … Śāntideva and Martha Nussbaum
  1. santosh krinsky ‏@santoshk124 Mar
Distinguishing Temporal and Eternal Truths http://wp.me/pCLXM-1rV 
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. DelhiRIUM ‏@DelhiRIUM24 Mar
Must be secessionists as Aurobindo conspired with divine to unite nation when in tatters MT @nsitharaman Shri Aurobindo Ashram attacked? Who
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty24 Mar
The center does not hold, but things do not fall apart. Political Theology: Four New Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty -Paul W. Kahn
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty24 Mar
Sri Aurobindo had anticipated "confusion emerging out of a unique Indian interpretation of secularism" well ahead. http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/just-graffiti/entry/secularism-nationalism-us …
  1. Sathya Anand ‏@AgentSaffron24 Mar
@alok_bhatt @vjshanks Apart from Aurobindo and Dayananda Saraswathi, few Hindu scholars/philosophers have critiqued Buddhism
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty24 Mar
A seventeen year old feels s/he knows everything. But the urge for discovering one's vistas of ignorance must go on till the age of seventy.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty24 Mar
Hunger for popularity or mass appeal shouldn't be the whole criterion. Sri Aurobindo is a cerebral celebration unlike culinary or of colours
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty24 Mar
It's not material who uttered the word Involution first, but who brought it to life and embodied it throughout his life. It's Sri Aurobindo.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty24 Mar
Sri Aurobindo is insistent upon integration but is equally emphatic on distinctions. So, being alive to the demands of evolution is the key.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty24 Mar
A wise enemy is better than a foolish friend and hence being wary of a political adversary involves keeping channels of communication open.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty24 Mar
[43rd All Odisha Sri Aurobindo Study Circle Conference to be held during 4th - 7th April 2013 at Matrubhaban Cuttack] http://www.motherorissa.com 
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty24 Mar
It's heartening to listen Sri Aurobindo referred to reverentially. [TNM55] @malviyamit The Right People podcast CRI http://centreright.in/2013/02/right-people-episode-1-amit-malviya/#.UU75oxej3yc … …
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty24 Mar
Sri Aurobindo is conspicuous by his absence in Sandeep Balakrishna's horizon and that's not an inconsiderable lack. http://centreright.in/2013/03/the-right-people-sandeep-balakrishna-episode-4/#.UU72cRej3yc …
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty23 Mar
[Human history including modern history is filled with the ongoing and sometimes extremely violent clash of beliefs.] http://sriaurobindostudies.wordpress.com/2013/03/24/creeds-religions-philosophies-dogmas-and-ideologies/ …
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty23 Mar
@Saffronista @navneet2frn @susegaado [The word mandir is foreign to them as is murti Ilija Trojanow & Ranjit Hoskote] http://kafila.org/2013/03/24/when-the-vishwa-hindu-parishad-went-time-travelling-ilija-trojanow-and-ranjit-hoskote/ …
  1. Sathya Anand ‏@AgentSaffron23 Mar
@navneet2frn @susegaado Aurobindo himself said that a society needs a strong Atheist contingent, to knock down superstition.
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. santosh krinsky ‏@santoshk122 Mar
Introduction to Sri Aurobindo's Essays on the Gita http://wp.me/pCLXM-1rH 
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty22 Mar
[Damage done to Ashram is extensive but repairable. Damage to the Ashram community and its security is irrecoverable] http://www.thelivesofsriaurobindo.com/2013/03/trustees-provoke-attack-on-ashram.html …
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
[The dialogue between Savitri and Death is becoming many-sided, discussing the issues of creation and its prospects.] http://www.savitri.in/savitri/?q=content/mirror/the-vedic-sacrifice-savitri-xi/22-mar-2013 …
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
[Phayllus (pronounced Faayoos), the central villain in Sri Aurobindo's tragedy "Rodogune". Charudutta Ram Prabhudesai http://charuprabhudesai.blogspot.in/2013/03/the-anguish-of-villainy.html …
  1. debrief ‏@shohankumar21 Mar
तमिल समर्थकों द्वारा अरविंद आश्रम पर हमला करना और तोड़ फोड़ करना अनुचित है
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Gautam Chikermane ‏@gchikermane24 Apr
We need to garland our dead with metaphorical marigolds says @nilanjanaroy: excellent piece on Peter Heehs controversy http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/nilanjana-s-roy-behindportrait/472347/ …
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Monika Halan ‏@monikahalan13 Nov
Banned by some vested interests in India, but here may be the book you are looking for: http://www.amazon.com/Lives-Sri-Aurobindo-Peter-Heehs/dp/0231140983 … @acorn What's the best, non-ha
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Gautam Chikermane ‏@gchikermane5 Feb
Congrats, look forward to reading it @peterheehs: My new book Writing the Self, now available on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Self-Peter-Heehs/dp/1441168281 ….
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
Strange how @gchikermane has not initiated any media campaign yet for securing the stay of his friend Peter Heehs in Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
Peter Heehs' one year visa extension expires on April 15 and like last year creating media attention through stage managed attack is a ploy.
  1. Sathya Anand ‏@AgentSaffron21 Mar
Our seculars shed tears when Switzerland bans minarets. But why haven't any seculars condemned this attack on Ashram? http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Anti-Lanka-protesters-attack-Sri-Aurobindo-Ashram-in-Puducherry/articleshow/19109176.cms …
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Mihir Jha ‏@Back2Vedas21 Mar
Have the trustees of Sri Aurobindo Ashrama including Manoj Das Gupta nd Dr Karan spoken on the recent attack on Ashrama by SL supporters?No
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Saptarshi Basu ‏@sabeaux21 Mar
@MaliniP Funny! Aurobindo is not even a central figure in Bengali consciousness!
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. The Blessed Sword ‏@TheBlessedSword21 Mar
@SandipGhose Few today know of the role played by Aurobindo Ghose in the Congress during the fight between Extremists and Moderates!
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@sanity_insanity @realist_indian Asiad was the real turning point and don't forget K.P. Singh Deo. India Story took a leap via ITO flyover.
  1. santosh krinsky ‏@santoshk121 Mar
Clarifications Regarding Purusha and Prakriti In the Understanding of Karma http://wp.me/pCLXM-1rs 
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@rajpadma Can you please explain this tweet a bit? I didn't get it.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
Easy for Kejriwal to drive from Kaushambi to Jantar Mantar to fast at the drop of a hat. Those far off may now head for Sri Aurobindo Ashram
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@BhaskarChat You are asking for moon. Can anyone read and understand that book? The issue is simple; they wanted publicity & got it aplenty.
  1. kittu reddy ‏@kitturd21 Mar
@Back2Vedas stupid, but fortunately no serious damage
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Gautam Chikermane ‏@gchikermane21 Mar
The Sri Aurobindo Ashram has been and remains a soft target every time there is a Sri Lanka issue. But no govt protection. Connivance?
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@ShivaChimp Sri Aurobindo Ashram, like Hotel Taj, was an easy target to attract attention. To that extent, their strategy has worked well.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@RajeevSrinivasa A minor correction. Sri Aurobindo Ashram is itself a semitic transmutation involving intertwining of Judeo-Vedic religions.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@PondyTweets If you admit it to be tragic, then it eminently deserves an epic battle, failures notwithstanding. Thanks for the good wishes.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@ShivaChimp If Peter Heehs thinks we will forget his crime, no, never. He is desecrating the Sri Aurobindo Ashram from within every moment.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@sunandavashisht So what is more damaging? Breaking a few bricks and flower pots or mauling in print The Mother & Sri Aurobindo's reputation
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@PondyTweets I don't think you have shared the results of any opinion poll. How are you so sure?
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
The Manoj Das Gupta-Peter Heehs nexus has robbed the Sri Aurobindo Ashram of exemplary reputation and goodwill built over several decades.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
Those outraged over the vandalism at Sri Aurobindo Ashram must also question why it is sheltering Peter Heehs who has denigrated the Master.
  1. Raj Kumar Jha ‏@rajpadma21 Mar
Has any condemnation come from Dr Karna Singh of Congress who did his Ph.D. on Aurobindo& wrote a book on him titled Prophet of Nationalism?
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@prasannavishy How about an article on Sri Aurobindo finally in CRI? @amishra77 has mentioned him as a tail-ender and this is an injustice.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
Deep dissention within Sri Aurobindo Ashram had failed to catch media attention but a single act by pro-Tamils could. http://www.thelivesofsriaurobindo.com/2013/03/dattagate-exposing-corrupt-trustees-of_6414.html …
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
  1. மகிழ்வரசு ‏@Anandraaj0421 Mar
Oops.... first eight days of students hunger strikes was not appeared.. but attack on Aurobindo Ashram got its first place here...! #TOI
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@AbhiUwach I don't justify but am happy about the turn of events as a lot of people on Twitter etc. are getting aware about Sri Aurobindo.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@SandipGhose @Keefarqpaindha @Realist_Indian My intention is not to argue. Only concern is wrong information shouldn't circulate in Internet
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@AbhiUwach Ashrams are not sacrosanct in a democratic polity; they are accountable. Don't overlook how Peter Heehs has been harboured.
  1. Madhavan Narayanan ‏@madversity21 Mar
The great Tamil poet Subramania Bharati was a friend of Sri Aurobindo. The so-called Tamil activists who hit the ashram should know better!
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@AbhiUwach They call themselves rationalists and many a times are more honest than avowed spiritualists or believers. So, benefit of doubt.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@Keefarqpaindha @sandipghose @realist_indian Sri Aurobindo never "Studied under an English Governess in Baroda." Your chance to discover him
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@calamur Nandhivarman has long been exposing the misdeeds of Manoj Das Gupta over the Internet. Just Google and find out the deep rot.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@AbhiUwach I pointed out the Bengali connection as Nandhivarman has long been exposing the misdeeds of Manoj Das Gupta over the Internet.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@AbhiUwach Because the Managing Trustee of Sri Aurobindo Ashram is a Bengali who is embroiled in land scams and financial irregularities.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@SandipGhose @realist_indian Please brush up on the basics of Sri Aurobindo 's life. Don't twist history.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
“@gchikermane: Disheartening to see the ashram of India's greatest poet, Sri Aurobindo, attacked on #WorldPoetryDay” Poetic justice to him.
  1. Gautam Chikermane ‏@gchikermane21 Mar
To condemn Mamata - unbelievable madness: Anti-Lanka protesters attack Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Anti-Lanka-protesters-attack-Sri-Aurobindo-Ashram-in-Puducherry/articleshow/19109176.cms …
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@KartikeyaTanna A perfect example of how indoctrinated intellectuals use the power of rhetoric to delude themselves and also their readers.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@Swamy39 @sivakumar_king Has any political party denounced the attack on Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry?
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
Finally, the "Five Dreams broadcast" by Sri Aurobindo is catching the imagination of the young and the patriotic. The logic of "Human Cycle"
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
Owing to a handful of admirers of Sri Aurobindo's "The Secret of the Veda" on Twitter, admiration towards him has grown in leaps and bounds.
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
Thanks to the demonstration by Periyar devotees, Sri Aurobindo is being remembered across the nation today and reverent emotion pouring in.
  1. Subramanian Swamy ‏@Swamy3921 Mar
@Sivakumar_king : Why? Because Aurobindo said there is God?
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
[Tolerance of a different point of view causes no damage. It means only a greater self restraint.] -Justice S.K. Kaul http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/Readers-Editor/from-principle-to-practice/article4351061.ece …
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
[There should be a thorough investigation of all foreign contributions to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust.] http://seof.blogspot.in/2013/03/sri-aurobindo-ashram-attacked.html …
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
[Ashram Trustees are breaking up all that the Mother and Sri Aurobindo worked to build] http://www.thelivesofsriaurobindo.com/2013/03/dattagate-exposing-corrupt-trustees-of_6414.html … [fishy deal with Peter Heehs]
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
@niksola @thenewshour [land scams in which Trustees sold off Ashram lands purchased by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother] http://www.thelivesofsriaurobindo.com/2013/03/dattagate-exposing-corrupt-trustees-of_6414.html …
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
[India's spirituality is entering Europe and America in an ever increasing measure.] -Sri Aurobindo, Broadcast on the eve of August 15, 1947
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
[friendly relations between Britain & India replacing the past struggles, will be a step towards a greater world union] -Sri Aurobindo, 1942
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
[Long after he is dead and gone, his words will be echoed and re-echoed, not only in India but across distant seas and lands.] -CR Das, 1909
  1. Madhavan Narayanan ‏@madversity20 Mar
Read something by Sri Aurobindo on Congress written in 1893. Relevant even today. Book title: On Nationalism
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. India News Updates ‏@INDIA_2day21 Mar
Pro-Tamil activists attack Aurobindo Ashram premises http://dlvr.it/36XV1G 
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Pritish Nandy ‏@PritishNandy21 Mar
@simkilll Sri Aurobindo was rebellious in his youth. Whats wrong with that?
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. India Indian ‏@India_IN21 Mar
Aurobindo Ashram premises attacked: A group of pro-Tamil activists today barged into the Aurobindo Ashram, damaged furniture and smas...
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Animesh Sharma ‏@animesh197721 Mar
Aurobindo Ashram premises attacked, watchman hit - Press Trust of India http://bit.ly/13eo32B 
 Retweeted by Savitri Era Party
  1. Savitri Era Party ‏@SavitriEraParty21 Mar
Integral Education of Sri Aurobindo envisages life-long learning for all and not the judges or journos alone. [Katju http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-18/india/37813285_1_justice-katju-water-scarcity-high-court-judges …

Thursday, April 30, 2015

William of Ockham and Rammohun Roy as breaking points


The blurry boundary between premodern and modern


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“William James: Politics in the Pluriverse” by Kennan Ferguson

I’ve just finished Ferguson’s book on James’ pluralist contribution to political theory. I can’t recommend it highly enough to those interested in the political implications of ontological pluralism. Ferguson contrasts James’ prescriptive pluralism to the far less radical liberal understanding of multiculturalism. For liberalism, pluralism is a problem to be overcome, whereas for James, it was an end in itself. In the liberal model, individual and cultural differences must be identifiable within some homogeneous and abstract idea of the human. If a marginalized or oppressed group cannot make itself intelligible in relation to this idea, then it is left (or violently forced) outside the bounds of the properly political. 


Friday, February 6, 2015

Sri Aurobindo's theory of an exalted, purified and sanctified nationalism


That’s a great question, Anthony. I was recently reading Fred Dallmayr’s introductory anthology on comparative political theory and found that while the writings on East Asia were quite good, those on South Asia were… not. That’s a pattern I find in other places, too.
I might go out on a bit of a limb and say that, historically, there just hasn’t been all that much political philosophy, relatively speaking, in India. Part of this may be because so many Indian thinkers were in renouncer traditions that rejected political involvement (see my article in Journal of Buddhist Ethics, or my post about justice on this blog.)
I noted that most of the papers on Indian political philosophy in Dallmayr’s anthology referred either to the Arthaśāstra (a text obscure enough that we really don’t know if it was ever put into practice) or to Rammohun Roy and Jawaharlal Nehru, whose political philosophies were based almost entirely on Western sources. Not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with that, but it will disappoint people looking for a “distinctly Indian” political philosophy. 
For the latter, the one really clear source is Mohandas Gandhi (one could add Aurobindo Ghose along with him)i; in premodern times, I suspect one is most likely to find it in the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyana, and it can be tricky to distill a coherent set of ideas and arguments from those texts (especially the MBh). There have been a number of people doing constructive political work thinking with Gandhi, but beyond that I think the literature is relatively thin on the ground.

Amod Lele on 5 February 2015 at 5:06 pm said:
I suppose if one were to make a claim like that it might have less to do with the notion of the “political” than of “philosophy/theory”: especially, to what extent do the epics count as philosophy or theory?
I was thinking about using the Śāntiparvan of the Mahābhārata to teach political philosophy in my introductory Indian philosophy class, since there are certainly a great number of political ideas in it. But I soon realized that, as with dharmaśāstra, there is little to no explicit reasoning attached to the ideas; it is simple injunction, do this and don’t do this, which has little power to affect those who do not already buy into it. I suspect there’s better political wisdom to be found in the narrative portions than the didactic ones, but it’s harder to weave those into a philosophy course. It may be for similar reasons that the Pañcatantra and Hitopadeṣa have been much more widely read than the Arthaśāstra, texts with similar messages.

The Political Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo

https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=8120806867
V. P. Varma - 1990
(b) Sociological Foundations of the Revivalistic Elements in Indian Political Thought It has been true in the case of Indian leaders and intellectuals that although  ...

INDIAN POLITICAL THOUGHT - Page 164 - Google Books Result

https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=8120343050
K. S. PADHY - 2011 - ‎Political Science
Nation Building Aurobindo's theory of an exalted, purified and sanctified nationalism was a great contribution to the modem Indian political thought. In 1907, he  ...

Sri Aurobindo's concept of freedom | Auroville

www.auroville.org/contents/2114
Aug 13, 2014 - Even then he had an idea of devoting his life to a similar world movement in defence of freedom. ... On February 6th, 1893, Sri Aurobindo returned to India . ... Inevitably, Sri Aurobindo's political activities and those of his  ...

7 Sources of the Ancient Indian Political Thought

www.yourarticlelibrary.com/political...indian-political-thought/40150/
It is, in fact, very difficult to obtain a particular book or a piece of literature that describes the various sources of the ancient Indian political thought,

SAGE: Modern Indian Political Thought: Text and Context: Bidyut ...

www.sagepub.in/books/Book234570
A SAGE Publications book: Modern Indian Political Thought: Text and ContextBidyut Chakrabarty, Rajendra Kumar Pandey. In contrast to the existing literature ...

Poverty of Indian Political Theory | Skylight

https://selfskylight.wordpress.com/2009/.../poverty-of-indian-political-theor...
Jun 29, 2009 - Indian Political Thought A Reader Edited by Aakash Singh, Silika Mohapatra Price: $41.95 Add to Cart ISBN: 978-0-415-56294-2 Binding: ...
  • Comparing the role of women in Arthashastra and Chanakya Niti ...

    www.sabhlokcity.com/.../comparing-the-role-of-women-in-arthashastra-an...
    Jun 12, 2014 - This is what Rangarajan finds from the Arthashastra. ... Reading theArthashastra, the question that naturally comes to mind is: Did women of ..... Sanjeev Sabhlokon Modi caught red handed with the proceeds of his corruption ...
  • [PDF]kautilya on the scope and methodology of ... - Sanjeev Sabhlok

    sanjeev.sabhlokcity.com/Misc/sihag-kautilya-accounting.pdf
    by BS Sihag - ‎2004 - ‎Cited by 33 - ‎Related articles
    junior contemporary of Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.). However, there is no evidence that Kautilya was aware of Aristotle's ideas. Kautilya wrote The Arthashastra,.



  • Wednesday, January 28, 2015

    Protect Liberty and Modernity by rejecting Mythology

    Thursday, January 15, 2015

    Hindutva and Vivekananda are barriers

    Politics serves as an easy means of boosting self-esteem for the youth but Sri Aurobindo exhorts to work towards Evolution of Consciousness. Before turning inordinately proud of saving the country, the youth of India must learn about what the Veda ordains them, from Sri Aurobindo. Sri Aurobindo rescues from the deafening noise pushing Mythology and Medievalism to acquaint with Vedic modes of volitional Self-Evolution. Don't carry misunderstandings and prejudices imbibed from Indian tradition all your life and learn from Sri Aurobindo to enrich civilisation. Hindutva advising women to have 4-5 children proves that it's 4-5 centuries back in intellectual growth & must evolve. http://t.co/ZoP6N9wBQQ

    The youth of India must develop adequate intellectual muscle to wrestle with what Sri Aurobindo wrote hundred years ago in 1914 in the ARYA. Indian culture must unshackle itself from Medieval Hindutva & claim Sri Aurobindo's Judeo-Vedic Integralism to keep pace with Economic surge. Nehruvian perspective was okay for adolescence but the Nation must evolve into Sri Aurobindian maturity after a brief Hindutva interregnum. Nehruvian neglect of Sri Aurobindo's Knowledge Capital has cost the country dear and it has to pay the price by way of Hindutva backlash. Sri Aurobindo weans away from Vedic Ritual and initiates into Integral Self-Perfection derived from Psychological interpretation of the Veda. Savitri Era unveiled by The Mother & Sri Aurobindo has robust Philosophy and Psychology and steers clear of Mythology, Astrology, & Rituals. If Hindutva follows Congress example of ignoring Sri Aurobindo, it'd be a colossal loss of opportunity not only for India but also the world. With the aid of Sri Aurobindo, youth of India must be willing to defeat ill effects of Mythology & Hindutva and espouse Science & Modernity. 

    Most Hindutva defenders are hardcore Vivekananda disciples who have undertaken the burden to prevent Sri Aurobindo's teaching from spreading. Both Hindutva and Vivekananda are barriers to the sublime Knowledge source and path to Perfection unveiled by The Mother & Sri Aurobindo. Multiple wrong perceptions did penetrate the Indian consciousness through Gandhi, Tagore, and Vivekananda, and Sri Aurobindo rectifies them. Acolytes of Golwalkar, Savarkar, and Vivekananda must make up their minds to receive higher education and understanding from Sri Aurobindo. Winning Power after decades long struggle is bound to make Hindutva blind for a while but faultlines of its clash with Modernity will show up. Hoping to win successive elections through Hindu votes consolidation is a chimera as Democratic aspirations are likely to take precedence. Indian Constitution doesn't give any special weightage to any religion and hence all aggressive mobilisation of Hindus is counterproductive

    Present Indian scenario is not a tussle between the Hindu and the rest. It's between Modernity and Freedom vs. Medievalism and Superstition. RW is now on overdrive in growing some theoretical muscle but one substantial mistake they commit is to treat Hindu as a monolithic category. Resolve to protect Liberty and Modernity by rejecting Mythology, Astrology, and Rituals so that children always feel India as their own land. Prevalence of Mythology, Astrology, & Rituals forces many Indians to turn agnostic but The Mother & Sri Aurobindo offer a fascinating option. It's worth the while to get rid of victimhood & negativity and follow the Judeo-Vedic Savitri Era ushered in by The Mother & Sri Aurobindo. Sri Aurobindo wades through Mythology, Mysticism, and Philosophy to express his Prophesies through Poetry. Make his SAVITRI a daily habit. All educated Indians should keep a copy of SAVITRI with them to recite a page or two from it whenever they feel like. http://t.co/sT7jU2B8db

    Hindutva privileges Mythology and promotes Ritualistic mode of religion while Sr Aurobindo presents an enlightened version of Vedic culture. Just because Modi was able to become PM doesn't exonerate Hindutva of its ills and make it trustworthy for future generations. Buyer beware! [TNM55]

    Thursday, January 22, 2015

    Bankruptcy of liberal proceduralism

    Sounds good to me, Levi. We are all children of the Sun, indebted to its self-immolating generosity. But then what is energy, anyway? After several hundred years, techno-science has achieved wonders through the instrumental mastery of energy. But what is it? How is it that the energy studied by physics becomes the libido studied by psychologists? If we are to take thermopolitics seriously, don’t we (we political theorists) also need an account for how free action is possible in a world described by physics as (at least statistically) deterministic? If it is all just the playing out of the laws of thermodynamics, where is there any room left over for politics? 
    It seems to me you want to marshall a discourse surrounding energy on behalf of a movement for political liberation. But for this to make any sense, aren’t we going to need to define energy in a more general, perhaps more speculative way than the instrumental definitions of physicists?
    Even the Christian mystic Teilhard de Chardin granted that “To think we must eat.” “The highest speculation and the most burning love,” he continues, “must be coupled with, and must be paid for by, an expenditure of physical energy, as we know too well. Sometimes we need bread; sometimes wine, sometimes the infusion of a chemical element or hormone; sometimes the stimulus of color; sometimes the magic of sound passing through our ears as a vibration and emerging in our brain in the form of an inspiration…But on the other hand, so many different thoughts come out of the same piece of bread! Just like the letters of an alphabet, which can produce incoherence as well as the most beautiful poem ever heard, the same calories seem to be as indifferent as they are necessary to the spiritual values they nourish.” (‘The Human Phenomenon,’ p. 29-30). 
    Teilhard is committed to the rejection of any dualism between physical and spiritual energies, and he dismisses the idea that these two might somehow transform one into the other. He ends up articulating a form of evolutionary panexperientialism, which rests on the same family of process ontologies articulated in detail by Bergson and Whitehead. There is plenty to be suspicious of in Teilhard’s thermopolitical framework, but nonetheless, he recognizes the profundity of the problem.

    Of course, the American project in democracy is a moderate version: a democratic republic. The founding fathers were just as concerned with a tyranny of the mob as they were with a centralized tyranny. It never was the case of the exercise of “collective power” so nothing, really, “has given way to democracy as representation”: American democracy was always ‘representative’. 
    Although I am uncertain that Adam does not mean ‘representation’ as Vorstellung, he directs some concern to ‘representatives’ of ideals such as inclusiveness and diversity. The ‘democracy to come’ awaits its own advent, and might be undone in the waiting, as ‘to come’ (as Caputo and Derrida might say) might very well crush ‘democracy’ under the pressure of the waiting. Democracy—Vorstellung. Yes, I agree.

    Oct 29, 2014 - Scientists recently discovered that good leadership plays a key role in the success of a particular species of insect. It turns out that the larvae of the Australian steel blue sawfly – known locally as the spitfire – can teach us a lot about the value of democratic leadership.
    The larvae might only reach a length of 7cm, but en masse they are a force to be reckoned with. Grouping together in their hundreds, the diminutive creatures thrive by following a leader to forage for food. Unlike other species like baboons and wolves where the leader asserts dominance through taking a greater share of the food, both followers and leaders in these sawfly communities feast on the same amount of Eucalyptus leaves (yum). Working together, the insects can strip an entire tree of its leaves in a matter of days.
    The larvae evidently value their democracy – they typically stay together in their large groups for the duration of the larval stage, about seven months. What’s more, scientists observing groups of the creepy crawlies discovered that groups comprised of all leaders and all followers were ultimately less successful than one with a mix of leaders and followers; it was found that in these mixed groups, both leaders and followers were better off than they would otherwise be. 
    In rapidly changing, dynamic work environments, democratic leadership of this sort is important. We must work together in these fast changing circumstances, recognising the value of collaboration. The leaders who do best here are those who accept the ideas of their colleagues, taking all options into account before making a decision for the good of the team, benefiting everyone. 
    If we can swallow our human pride, there are lessons to be learned from sawfly larvae – here are some tips to keep your team as democratic as a Eucalyptus tree that’s crawling with hungry bugs.

    Thomas D. Seeley - 2010 - ‎If it is deposited in a standard-size cell in the combs, where after hatching into a larva it will be fed by the workers with standard-quality larval food, then it will ...

    Susan P. Liebell - 2013 - Darwin had claimed that cruelty and imperfections in the natural world— particularly the larval cannibalism ichneumon wasps—might be more easily explained 

    Reason why Mythology is pernicious. "The concepts the mind clings to are the most powerful idols." indiafacts.co.in/murti-puja-ant… @IndiaFactsOrg - 7:06am - 22 Jan 15


    Unearthing cosmopolitanism - Times of India - Jan 25, 2015
    ... important in their own times" is what Sachidananda Mohanty's book, Cosmopolitan Modernity in the Early 20th Century, sets out to achieve.