“”All Problems of Existence are Problems of Harmony”

while our small everyday mind may be more comfortable with avoiding dramatic contradictions and working out the extremely difficult  evolutionary challenges posed by extreme contradiction, Nature tends to find its best solutions when apparently irreconcilable elements are put into juxtaposition to one another and are forced to resolve their differences at the next higher level.  The result is a dramatic synthesis of opposites that has more power, more subtlety and more evolutionary potential than a compromise that leaves these oppositions essentially unresolved. 

The first of these major reconciliations occurs when life energy activates material form which has as its native tendency immobility.  The next occurs when a self-conscious mental energy develops in a life-force that is not in and of itself self-conscious.

The aspiration we hold for a greater light, freedom, force and immortality then is a next step in the resolution of the apparently impossible opposites of matter and spirit.

reference: Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, Chapter 1, The Human Aspiration

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The Apparent Contradiction

Our normal experience contradicts the ideals set forth in the human aspiration.   We experience the ego with its animal-based drives and desires, limited powers and awareness, and its separation from “the world”.  We experience pain and suffering, limitation, privation, struggle, stress and the imperatives of the necessities of life and existence.  We are subject to death.  How can we discover God, Light, Freedom and Immortality under such conditions?  We can get a glimpse of these higher states on occasion through some supreme breakthrough in the individual awareness.  If we remain stuck in the view of the present state of Mankind and our conscious awareness, we find no way out.  At some point we begin to doubt whether there is any reality to these aspirations.    But in a deeper view of the workings of Nature we see that it is the very nature of the contradiction and the depth of the contradiction that actually signifies the deeper intent and purpose in Nature.  For Nature often works through the tension of opposites, of ultimate contradiction to spur the effort and create the dynamism necessary for a completer manifestation.

reference: Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, Chapter 1, The Human Aspiration

The Human Aspiration

Sri Aurobindo introduces us in his magnum opus, The Life Divine to the meaning and purpose of human existence.  He begins this introduction with an overview of the history of the human aspiration:

“The earliest preoccupation of man in his awakened thoughts and, as it seems, his inevitable and ultimate preoccupation, — for it survives the longest periods of scepticism and returns after every banishment, — is also the highest which his thought can envisage.  It manifests itself in the divination of Godhead, the impulse towards perfection, the search after pure Truth and umixed Bliss, the sense of a secret immortality…The earliest formula of Wisdom promises to be its last, — God, Light, Freedom, Immortality.”

The systematic review of Sri Aurobindo’s vision and its relevance in the modern world is the focus of this blog.

reference: Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, Chapter 1, The Human Aspiration

Sri Aurobindo Studies

Sri Aurobindo’s integral yoga has enormous implications for the time we find ourselves in.  As we systematically destroy the basis of life on the planet, and wall off one another through ultimate fragmentation, we are left with the stark contrast of choosing between survival and destruction, life and death, growth or decline.  Sri Aurobindo recognizes the necessity of the individual within the context of the collectivity, universality and the transcendent consciousness of Oneness.  The individual is the nexus or hub of the evolutionary urge, but not separate from nor at the expense of the life of the cosmic whole.

We post the daily blog entries also to our facebook page:  www.facebook.com/sriaurobindoswritings

We also have a daily twitter feed on Sri Aurobindo’s studies at www.twitter.com/santoshk1

We have systematically worked our way through The Life Divine as well as The Mother , Essays on the Gita and Rebirth and Karma, The Synthesis of Yoga, The Ideal of Human Unity and The Human Cycle: The Psychology of Social Development  The newest posts appear near the top.  If you want to start at the beginning, go to the oldest post and roll forward until you reach the final posts as of today.

Another option is to “search” for the chapter you would like to study and see all posts relating to that chapter. You may have to ask for “older posts” once you have the search results if you are looking for one of the earlier chapters.

We have separated the posts relating to each book into their own folder as an additional organisational tool.

Similarly you can use the search box to find specific concepts, terms or issues you are interested in. The results will show all posts that address those concepts or terms. You may have to click on “older posts” to find all the references here as well.

The next book we are taking up is The Upanshads by Sri Aurobindo, following a similar format to that we have utilised for The Life Divine , The Mother, Essays on the Gita and Rebirth and Karma, The Synthesis of Yoga, The Ideal of Human Unity and The Human Cycle: Psychology of Social Development.

You may also want to visit our information site for Sri Aurobindo at Sri-Aurobindo.Com

Sri Aurobindo’s major writings are published in the US by Lotus Press.

The systematic studies on this blog have also been published as self-standing books by Lotus Press and are available in both printed formats and as e-books. There are 3 volumes encompassing Readings in Sri Aurobindo’s The Life Divine, 2 volumes encompassing Readings in Sri Aurobindo’s Essays on the Gita, as well as 1 volume for Readings in The Mother by Sri Aurobindo, and Readings in Sri Aurobindo’s Rebirth and Karma., and 4 volumes  for the Readings in Sri Aurobindo’s The Synthesis of Yoga as well as Readings in Sri Aurobindo’s The Ideal of Human Unity and Readings in Sri Aurobindo’s The Human Cycle, Readings in Sri Aurobindo’s The Future Evolution of Man.  .You can find the Readings series at Lotus Press

Many of the major writings of Sri Aurobindo are now also accessible on the Amazon Kindle Platform as well as Apple itunes, google play, kobo, and Barnes & Noble nook as well.  Kindle e-book reader program is also available for PC, Laptop, iPad, Blackberry, Android, iPhone and many other platforms from Amazon without charge. You can find the current list of titles available by going to http://www.amazon.com , go to the “kindle store” and type in “Aurobindo” New titles are being added as they can be made ready. Many of the major books are already accessible by the Kindle Reader.  You can follow a similar procedure for the other platforms we now support for Sri Aurobindo’s writings, I-tunes, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and KOBO.