20130619

The spirit of an age

BLESSING RAY OF SRI AUROBINDO SOCIETY SINGAPORE 



The Mother tells us:
 
 
 
 
 
The Great Adventure
A Decisive Turning-point
Change Yourself First
Strengthen the Will
The Temple within You
The Psychic and the Truth
The Heart has Wings
The Mother - Maheshwari aspect
 
 
 
 
Maheshwari
 
 
The Mother - Mahakali aspect
Win Your Little Victories
The Psychic Mirror 
Stepping Back
Dynamic Meditation
Before Going to SleepRemember and Offer
Create Your Own Atmosphere
 
 
Mahakali
 
 
 
 
Fear is an Impurity
Fear : A Lack of Trust
Conquering Fear
True Courage
Make the Gift of Your Will 
Say Only the Indispensable Words 
One's Own way of Thinking
The Mother- Mahalakshmi aspect
 
 
 
 
Mahalakshmi
 
 
The Mother - Mahasaraswati aspect
 
 
Mahasaraswati


The spirit of an age
MANY are familiar with Barindra Kumar Ghose as Sri Aurobindo’s younger brother and fellow-accused in the Alipore Bomb Case of 1908–9. He was convicted in that trial and sentenced to death, a sentence that was later commuted to transportation for life in the Cellular Jail in the Andamans. After his release under a general amnesty in January 1920, Barin, as he was popularly known, returned to the mainland, where he took up the work of editing several journals and periodicals. He also wrote more than twenty books. We introduce in this issue a reprint of his autobiographical prison narrative The Tale of My Exile, the story of his twelve years in the Andamans along with six others convicted in Alipore Bomb Case. Barin describes the brutality and humiliation of life behind bars but he usually tempers his descriptions with humour, and always affords us a view of the underlying good nature and spirit of these young revolutionaries imprisoned along with criminal types and subject to very harsh conditions. In this excerpt he describes the back-breaking labour demanded of the inmates in the Cellular Jail:
     About this time a veritable comet arose in the heavens of our destiny in the person of a new Superintendent. Our fate was sealed. Immediately after his coming he ordered some of us to be engaged in oil-grinding.…Each had to turn out per day either 10 lbs. of mustard oil or 30 lbs. of coconut oil. Even robust and stalwart fellows get prostrated in turning an oil-mill. It passes words to describe what became of people like us. Two Pathan petty officers were the supreme authority in that part of the jail where oil was ground. As soon as we entered the region, one of them held his fist upon our nose and explained with vehement emphasis that our nose would be flattened out with blows, if we did not work properly. We had to run up to the third storey, each with a 50 lb. sack of coconuts on the back and a bucket in the hand and start immediately the work. It was not work, it was regular wrestling. Within 10 minutes, our breathing became difficult, our tongues got parched. In an hour, all the limbs were almost paralysed. We cursed the superintendent in our wrath, but all that was useless. Once I thought that I would find relief if I could only weep at the top of my voice. But I felt ashamed to do even that. When we got down at 10 o’clock to take our meal, we saw that our hands were all bruised, our brains reeled, the whole world danced before our eyes. The first object that attracted my attention was Hemchandra [one of the seven Alipore Bomb Case prisoners] sitting quiet in a corner….There was non equal to Hemchandra for bearing pain and suffering with a smiling face, for calmly determining the future in the very thick of terrible struggle and difficulty. When some of us were so much overwhelmed with suffering that they were up to doing anything, it was he who infused into them his calm strength of mind and kept them back.
     Originally written in Bengali, the book was translated by Nolini Kanta Gupta and published in 1922. The text in English and in Bengali has been out of print for a very long time. This new edition contains an introduction and several photographs, including some of the Alipore Jail in Calcutta and the Cellular Jail in the Andamans.
     Barin and his fellow political prisoners exemplified the spirit of sacrifice that ignited the freedom movement in those days. One of the most potent sources of inspiration for the young Bengalis who became revolutionaries was Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s book Anandamath. This well-known historical novel is based on theSannaysi Rebellion in Bengal during the late eighteenth century and, after its publication in 1882, became a stirring patriotic and political symbol for the nationalist movement. The next book introduced in this issue is a reprint of an early English translation by Sri Aurobindo and Barindra Kumar Ghose. Sri Aurobindo translated the Prologue and the first thirteen chapters of Part I of Bankim’s Bengali novel and published them in the Karmayogin between August 1909 and February 1910. All the remaining chapters were translated by Barin Ghose, and the entire book was later published.
     Sri Aurobindo admired Bankim’s work on many levels. In 1894, soon after his return to India and shortly after Bankim’s death, Sri Aurobindo wrote seven essays on the life and work of Bankim for the Indu Prakash, a weekly Marathi-English newspaper of Bombay. Some years later, for the April 1907 issue of the weekly newspaper Bande Mataram, he wrote the article “Rishi Bankim Chandra”, in which he called Bankim a “seer and nation-builder”. The ideas of complete self-sacrifice and devotion to the work of national liberation, the need for self-discipline and organisation in this work, and an intense feeling of religious patriotism are all themes which find expression in Anandamath. Sri Aurobindo wrote in the 1907 essay on Bankim that “of the new spirit which is leading the nation to resurgence and independence, he is the inspirer and political guru.”
     Another new book is an annotated compilation from the writings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother titled Spiritual Heritage of India: Past, Present and Future. The excerpts highlight Sri Aurobindo’s insight into India’s spiritual heritage, his analysis of critical problems faced by a modern India and the world, and his and the Mother’s shared vision for India’s role in the spiritualisation of the human race. And to conclude, we draw attention to the new title in Arabic, a translation of Integral Healing, a compilation from the writings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Notably, this is the first time that Sri Aurobindo Ashram has published a book in Arabic.


NEW PUBLICATIONS



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ENGLISH

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Twelve Years in the Andamans— Barindra Kumar Ghose ISBN: 978-81-7058-991-4 Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department, Pondicherry Binding: Soft Cover Pages: 143Price: Rs 95
Barindra Ghose, Sri Aurobindo’s younger brother, was sentenced to death in 1909 in the Alipore Bomb Case, a sentence later commuted to transportation for life in the Cellular Jail at Port Blair in the Andamans. He was released from there in January 1920 as part of a general amnesty. Told with honesty and humour, this book is the story of his imprisonment with some of his fellow revolutionaries, from the Alipore Jail to the hold of the SS Maharaja to the Cellular Jail and a hard life of deprivation, forced labour, and humiliation by the prison authorities. Translated from the original Bengali into English by Nolini Kanta Gupta and first published in 1922, this new edition includes an introduction and editorial notes.
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— Bankim Chandra Chatterjee ISBN: 978-81-85289-13-7 Publisher: Ashir Prakashan, Saharanpur Binding: Soft Cover Pages: 203Price: Rs 200
The famous Bengali novel Anandamath was first published in 1882. It is set in Bengal during the famine of 1770 and tells the story of an armed band of Sannayasis who lead a rebellion against the British East India Company. The book later became a symbol for the struggle for independence and its well-known hymn Bande Mataram a rallying cry for the freedom movement. Bankim’s writing was much admired by Sri Aurobindo, and his translation of the Prologue and the first thirteen chapters of Part I of Anandamath first appeared in theKarmayogin. The rest of the work was translated by his brother Barindra. This book is a reprint of an earlier edition which contained both their translations.
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Past, Present and Future— An annotated compilation based on the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother ISBN: 978-81-88847-44-0 Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Delhi Branch Trust, New Delhi Binding: Soft Cover Pages: 127Price: Rs 65
The selections in this compilation, drawn primarily from the writings of Sri Aurobindo, are brief indicators to the much deeper considerations of India’s spiritual heritage on which Sri Aurobindo wrote with such insight. The extracts highlight his constructive approach to the past, gleaning the essential truths of Indian philosophy and culture, and applying them to an analysis of modern-day sociological ideas. Sri Aurobindo and the Mother envisioned a reshaping of the Indian spirit in new moulds, a renaissance that will lead the way in the spiritualisation of the human race.
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— Selections from the Works of Sri Aurobindo and the MotherISBN: 978-81-7060-316-0 Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry Binding: Soft Cover Pages: 40Price: Rs 30

ARABIC

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— Mosanaf men Aamaal Shriaurobindo wal Om ISBN: 978-81-7058-989-1 Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department, Pondicherry Binding: Soft Cover Pages: 276Price: Rs 230
Arabic translation of Integral Healing
This book of selections from the writings and talks of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother presents their insights into the causes and cure of illness. It examines the mechanism of illness primarily from a psychological point of view, taking into account the whole of our being including much that is beyond the range of our normal awareness. It explores how the hidden causes of physical disorders can be uprooted by discovering and utilising one's inner power and participating consciously in the accelerated evolutionary process known as Integral Yoga.
The book is divided into 4 parts, "Psychological Causes of Illness", "Cure by Inner Means", "Cure by Spiritual Force" and "Medicine and Healing".

BENGALI

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— Satadal Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Sthan, Kolkata Binding: Hard Cover Pages: 111Price: Rs 200
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Suresh Chandra Chakraborty (Moni) ke— Sankalan o Sampadana Supriyo Bhattacharya Publisher: Indiana, Kolkata Binding: Hard Cover Pages: 142Price: Rs 130
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297 cadets graduate from National Defence Academy (NDA)


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It was a proud moment for 297 cadets of the124th course of the National Defence Academy (NDA) who graduated from the country’s prime defence training institute on Friday. The NDA cadets displayed high level of discipline at the passing out parade which was reviewed by chief of the Naval staff Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi at the Arun Khetrapal ground.President’s gold medal winner Cadet JS Suman of Bangalore wants to join Indian Air Force. Suman said, “I always wanted to join NDA and I am happy that I could fulfill my dream.”  Vikrant Kumar, a silver medal winner cadet from Bihar said, “ I will be joining Indian Military Academy in Deharadun before joining the Indian Army.”
Son of a farmer in Haryana, Vishal Dahiya, a bronze winner said, “ I had no knowledge of NDA before my principal inspired me to prepare for the test. “ Few candidates from Kazakhstan and Afghanistan are also among the successful candidates who had passed out from the institute.

US Navy talks Pacific strategy


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 As the Pentagon shifts its focus to the bustling Pacific region, the Navy is weighing how to work with more countries and to manage more ships. The Navy’s top officer spoke about these issues after a recent trip to the area.Planners have broken the Asia-Pacific area into two regions where different kinds of warships are needed. Combatants such as cruisers, submarines and aircraft carriers will patrol the East China Sea and Sea of Japan to deter a bellicose North Korea and an assertive Chinese navy.


Flooded Alaska town looking to dispose of bad meat
In this May 27, 2013 photo released by the National Weather Service, homes and other buildings are shown flooded in Galena, Alaska. Several hundred people are estimated to have fled the community of Galena in Alaska's interior, where a river ice jam has caused major flooding, sending water washing over roads and submerging buildings. (AP Photo/National Weather Service, Ed Plumb)
 GALENA, Alaska (AP) — Officials in Galena, Alaska, faced a unique concern after the remote village was hit by flooding and power outages — that spoiled meat at residents' homes would start attracting bears. The road to the community's dump is washed out, so officials have come up with a plan to fly the bad meat to the disposal site by helicopter. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports (http://bit.ly/14bAGtg) emergency responders in Galena are preparing a plan to collect meat that has been rotting in people's refrigerators and freezers since last week. That's when an ice jam backed Yukon River water into the community of nearly 500 people about 270 miles west of Fairbanks. Many residents were evacuated from the town, and emergency responders have asked them to delay their return while they deal with flooded fuel tanks, gas fumes and other issues.

Law change kills German's longest word

 BERLIN (AP) — A tweak to state laws in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to conform with current EU regulations has caused an unexpected casualty: the longest word in the German language. The Rindfleischetikettierungsueberwachungsaufgabenuebertragungsgesetz is no more. The "law delegating beef label monitoring" was introduced by the state in 1999 as part of measures against mad cow disease.