Monthly Archives: June 2011

Does dying in holy cities like Varanasi bring salvation?

Posted on June 24, 2011 by

In this article, we examine the assertion given in some Hindu scriptures that liberation from the cycle of reincarnations can be guaranteed by dying in a holy city in India (e.g. Varanasi, Kashi, Mathura). Questions regarding the continuing validity of these scriptural remarks have been raised before some seers of the modern era such as Anandamayi Ma, Ramana Maharshi and Ramakrishna Paramahansa. Continue reading →

Posted in rebirth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Why the future is veiled from us

Posted on June 17, 2011 by

Imagine for a moment that you knew the future. Doesn’t that seem a good thing? You could relax and work without getting stressed out; you could plan ahead and direct your energies only in those paths that you know would lead to success; you could avoid all those intransigent people who keep trapping you in some debilitating vortex of time. There would be no wastage of energy, no error, no agonizing in hindsight over missed opportunities. What a utopian world it would be! But counter-intuitive as it seems, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother Mirra Alfassa offered some legitimate reasons as to why the future is deliberately hidden from us. Continue reading →

Posted in Karma | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Why spiritual experiences do not repeat?

Posted on June 10, 2011 by

Why is it that the same contemplation does not always produce the same sensation in oneself? That is, for example, when one looks at the sea or the stars and thinks of one’s insignificance, then there is a particular sensation which is produced within, and then at another time, when one wants to have the same experience, even if one thinks about it, why doesn’t it recur? Continue reading →

Posted in Spiritual practice | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Sri Aurobindo’s 1947 meeting with two French visitors

Posted on June 3, 2011 by

Towards the end of September 1947, leading Indian newspapers carried reports that Sri Aurobindo, in seclusion since 1926 had received two visitors, the first it was said since his meeting with Tagore 19 years earlier. These two visitors who remained with Sri Aurobindo in his room for three-quarters of an hour were M. Maurice Schumann, leading a cultural mission despatched to newly-independent India by the Government of recently-liberated France; and M. Francois Baron, then Governor of Pondicherry. Three members of Auroville International France were privileged to meet M. Schumann in December 1988 and to interview him about his visit to Sri Aurobindo. The text that follows is an extract translated from the account of this interview published in the Summer 1989 issue of La Revue d’Auroville. It tells us something of what happened in Sri Aurobindo’s room that day. This article was written by Shraddhavan and also appeared in the 1989 issue of the Mother India magazine and the Summer 1990 of the Collaboration magazine. Continue reading →

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