The Sri Aurobindo Ashram Reaps What It Sows
by Robert Wilkinson
27 April 2012
In an attempt to discourage someone from writing his biography, Sri Aurobindo once wrote that he did not want to be murdered in cold print by his disciples; yet, this is exactly what has happened. In an April 6, 2012 report by CNN/IBN, American historian Peter Heehs, author of the controversial book, 'The Lives of Sri Aurobindo’ is quoted as making the authoritative statement that 'Sri Aurobindo was aspiritual leader, not an Avatar.’ [*]
In response to the recent furor in Pondicherry over Peter
Heehs’s controversial book, ‘The Lives of Sri Aurobindo’, the Sri Aurobindo
Ashram Trustees have issued the following statement:
‘The considered view of Sri Aurobindo
Ashram Trust is that it does not project itself in the role of dictating
to readers and followers of Sri Aurobindo, as to what they should read and what
they should not read. Each person is at complete liberty to decide for
himself whether he finds any book to be meaningful and useful, or whether he
does not find it to be so, and Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust respects and has full
faith in the intellectual and spiritual discernment of the readers. No one
should or needs to force his personal opinions on any other reader in general,
and more particularly on the followers of Sri Aurobindo.’ (bold emphasis added)
Anyone who has bothered to follow events in the Pondicherry Ashram since the Mother’s passing in 1973 will find this statement by the Trustees to be the absolute peak of hypocrisy. Not only have members of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram dictated to their students what they should and should not read and think, Ashram Press employees have even destroyed an important manuscript in their possession to prevent students of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother from having access to knowledge that would expose the inexcusable incompetence of their own leaders. In 1978 the manuscript of The New Way,1 Vols. 1 & 2’ by ‘Thea’, Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet was sent to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press for printing under a agreement between Thea and the Ashram Trustees. As many will know, this book chronicles the history of the Mother’s Temple plan from its inception until its willful destruction by the Mother’s own disciples on January 17th, 1970. More importantly The New Way gave forth the indisputable proofs and objective cosmic credentials of Vishnu’s Evolutionary Avatars.
‘It is the Vedic Divine Measure alone that provides the objective key
which allows the Avatar to have his mission confirmed not by the sentimental,
emotional and subjective experiences of his devotees, but rather the Cosmos
becomes his credentials. God supports His supreme REALISER by the cosmic
harmonies of His universal manifestation, the script written in his very body.
Indeed if this is veritably the Supramental Manifestation, which is the
ultimate reconciliation of Spirit and Matter, that ‘spirit’ must unveil itself
unquestionably in the workings of the material kingdom which is the extension
of its own truth-essence. The coming of the Evolutionary Avatars is itself the
means for this unveiling.’ ‘Thea’, Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet, The Vishaal Newsletter, December, 1987
Owing to petty conflicts and ego disputes with Thea an Ashram Press employee named, Shanti, intent on halting publication of The New Way, filed a bogus complaint with the Press manager, Rob Ganguly who then refused to print the manuscript. Together they proceeded to shred all copies of the then 2/3 completed book. While most people may find it incredible that such an important book could be destroyed over a personal vendetta, it is necessary to go deeper into the nature of the forces behind these extraordinary events. Then as now, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram was not exclusively populated with highly evolved spiritual types, it also contained individuals representing the most irredeemable evolutionary forces of resistance and denial - a collective entity that the Mother called the ‘Lord of Nations’. In an encounter with this Vital Asura on the subtle plane he told her, "…I know you will destroy me, but before being destroyed I will wreak just as much havoc as I can, you can be sure of that." (The Mother's Agenda, Jan. 12, 1965). The Mother went on to explain that certain individuals are unconscious that they act for this asuric force, genuinely believing that they are doing the right thing. Sri Aurobindo was in complete agreement with the Mother, writing that some of his biggest disciples were Asuras - anti-divine forces vehemently dedicated to the suppression of the truth and a denial of the light. Few will appreciate that owing to their petty jealousies and personal vendettas, Shanti and Rob Ganguly made themselves unwitting pawns of these retrograde forces dedicated to the suppression and destruction of Sri Aurobindo’s, the Mother’s, and Thea’s work. Today, after decades of ruthless censorship, connivance, and lies these anti-divine forces acting through Pondicherry’s mental elites have succeeded in concealing from aspiring students throughout the world the descent of a Supramental Knowledge unparalleled since the Vedic age. With this malicious act of censorship Ashram authorities formalized an ongoing policy of suppression and distortion that finally culminated in the complete deconstruction of Sri Aurobindo’s work and mission by Peter Heehs in the pages of his controversial book.
Today in Pondicherry there is growing outrage among many of the sadhaks over the disrespectful caricature of their beloved guru presented in the Heehs book. There have been protests, demonstrations, lawsuits and calls for the resignation of the entire board of trustees for approving such an offensive biography. But in the final analysis and owing to the persistent exclusion of the true knowledge of who and what Sri Aurobindo was, the Heehs book was simply a logical and entirely predictable example of the decontextualization, gossip, and lies that could only emerge given the complete absence of any higher understanding of Sri Aurobindo’s life and mission. And while Heehs is clearly guilty of perpetuating a disrespectful and fraudulent caricature of Sri Aurobindo, the sadhaks themselves are equally as guilty in the outcome for allowing Ashram authorities to tell them what they should or should not read and think instead of pursuing the truth and deciding for themselves. And while one does not expect devotees to understand the complex question of avatarhood, in spite of everything Sri Aurobindo and the Mother have written on the subject, it is expected that the Trustees of their legacy would object to a founding member of the Ashram Archives Department writing emphatically that Sri Aurobindo was NOT an emanation of Vishnu. It would be their duty to raise a protest against such an ‘authoritative' statement from a person who, it would appear, is expected to be privy to information that others ignore. However, we find the contrary to be the case: Peter Heehs’s book receives the support of the Ashram Trust while the only authoritative book on earth confirming empirically Sri Aurobindo’s avatarhood, is shredded to pieces so that devotes and disciples would not have access to the truth. This alone identifies the Board as being hostile to the very thing they pretend to uphold, confirming Sri Aurobindo’s statement that his biggest disciples were asuras. And while they will never admit it, this entire Heehs affair is about the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and its sheep-like followers reaping exactly what they have sown.
In terms of Sri Aurobindo’s true identity the matter could
not be clearer. He had warned us years before that the true meaning of his life
was not on the surface for men to see.
‘What matters in a spiritual man's life is not what he did or
what he was outside to the view of the men of his time (that is what
historicity or biography comes to, does it not?) but what he was and did
within; it is only that that gives any value to his outer life at all. It is
the inner life that gives to the outer any power it may have and the inner life
of a spiritual man is something vast and full and, at least in the great
figures, so crowded and teeming with significant things that no biographer or
historian could ever hope to seize it all or tell it. I see that you have
persisted in giving a biography – is it really necessary or useful? The attempt is bound to be a failure,
because neither you nor anyone else knows anything at all of my life; it has
not been on the surface for men to see.’ - SABCL, Vol
22 p. 428 (bold emphasis added)
The Mother added to his comments saying that ‘What
Sri Aurobindo represents in the world’s history is not a teaching, not even a revelation;
it is a decisive action, direct from the
Supreme…Sri Aurobindo is an emanation of the Supreme who came on earth to
announce the manifestation of a new race and a new world: the supramental. Let
us prepare for it in all sincerity and eagerness.’
The common and willful error for both Heehs and the Ashramites is their failure to listen to the Mother; to acknowledge who Sri Aurobindo was and the evolutionary context of his appearance on the earth at this particular time and no other. In his book, Heehs actively rejects the evolutionary significance of Sri Aurobindo’s unique incarnation and in spite of the Mother’s unequivocal statements, encourages in his readers a complete disinterest in Sri Aurobindo’s ‘Avatarhood’, an omission that he excuses as a distracting hagiographic idealization in which he had no real interest.
'...What
about the assertion that Aurobindo was an avatar? I can’t say that the question
interests me very much. Aurobindo never claimed the distinction for himself,2 and I don’t
think anyone alive is in a position to say one way or the other...' (Peter Heehs, from the Columbia website)3 (It
should be noted that in an April 2012 interview reported by CNN/IBN Heehs’s ‘disinterest’
has taken a significant leap with him now being quoted as saying: 'Sri Aurobindo was a spiritual leader, not an Avatar.’ (bold emphasis added)
For persons of knowledge, the arrogance of this statement is simply breathtaking. Unfortunately it reflects a long standing attitude of many of the so-called wise-men who claim to ‘adore Sri Aurobindo and the Mother’. It is as if the Vedic tradition of the Avatar is meaningless, even though it is sanctified by the Gita in Sri Krishna's own words, and Sri Aurobindo's and the Mother’s as well. Moreover, Heehs’ contention that no one alive today is in a position to say one way or another reveals a stunning lack of research on his part or, more likely, a calculated decision to ignore the volumes of objective proofs that have been published by Thea and accepted and catalogued by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives; an organization which lists Heehs as one of its founding member. Given the volumes of non-speculative proofs of Sri Aurobindo’s Avataric credentials on file in the Ashram Archives and Heehs ready access to this material, his only reason for making such a disingenuous statement is that he, like his Ashram cronies, know that the Supramental proofs of Sri Aurobindo’s avatarhood also include the irrefutable details of the third stage of the Supramental Descent as well as the details of Sri Aurobindo’s rebirth as the Fourth. Moreover they know that any acknowledgement of these objective proofs would mean an immediate end to the rule of orthodoxy and its stultifying dogma that has reduced this most important spiritual work of the age to an arrogant, fundamentalist and elitist cult. It is just as if a cadre of hard line Tibetan Buddhist fundamentalists had taken over the Potala Palace and suppressed the knowledge of the rebirth of the next Dalai Lama so they could continue to indulge their self-important pretentions as the unchallenged leaders of their faith.
Today in Pondicherry the Asuras are dancing. The forces of falsehood are thumbing their noses at the protesters and demonstrators made impotent by the deprivation of real knowledge. They have succeeded beyond their wildest hopes in rejecting the light and destroying its message in, of all places, their own printing house. HE who the Mother acknowledged as an emanation of the Supreme, unique in the history of the world, has been deconstructed and decontextualized into simply another spiritual teacher and no longer an Avatar. Peter Heehs has been allowed to stay in India and is now lauded by the press as, ‘…someone who knows the documentary evidence on and around Sri Aurobindo’s life better than anyone else, and who has deep knowledge of the political and spiritual worlds in which his subject moved and by which he was shaped…’ With the complicity of the naive Indian media the deception has become complete. Every official communication issued by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram especially the literary heresy by Peter Heehs has become a de facto negation of Sri Aurobindo’s and the Mother’s work and mission. In a letter to the Ashram Board of Trustees Thea explains:
‘It is a fact that every publication issued from Ashram and Auroville sources, Heehs’s included, passes on to the public – though the intention appears to be other – that both Sri Aurobindo and the Mother failed in their missions. Not one publication can factually prove otherwise; and since there is no one in your circles who can state the contrary and receive the accepted “imprimatur”, this is the result: both Sri Aurobindo and the Mother failed “to deliver”. Or if they did, we mortals are not qualified to prove what stands beyond human comprehension. And since this is your belief, you must accept full responsibility for spreading the idea that they seemed to have failed.
‘Nothing could be farther from the truth. Not only did they complete their missions, they did so beyond our wildest expectations. You can be sure that Supermind would not leave the fulfilment of its descent and establishment on Earth to the “belief” of anyone: it is its own irrefutable proof.
‘This has been fully documented, the only existing book [The New Way] to not only prove the victorious completion of their missions but also it is the only irrefutable documentation of the fact that they are Vishnu’s Emanations – i.e., Evolutionary Avatars who come yuge, yuge, just as the Gita states, proven as only the Truth-Consciousness can do.’ ‘Thea’, Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet Letter to the Board of Trustees, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, December, 2008.
As I write this article, there are thousands of sadhaks throughout the world who, owing to the deception of the Pondicherry elites, have virtually no understanding of who Sri Aurobindo was, the evolutionary importance of his life and mission, let alone his rebirth as the fourth in the Solar Line. Nevertheless, and without their knowledge, the success of Sri Aurobindo’s, the Mother’s and Thea’s work goes on. An understanding of the Supermind and objective evidence of its deployment has been developed to extraordinary levels and applications of this Supramental knowledge have led to major breakthroughs in areas as diverse as Yoga, Cosmology, History, Geopolitics, and Science to name just a few. Those who have been deprived of this knowledge for so many decades must finally come to understand that protests, demonstrations and lawsuits will do nothing to redress their grievances. What is required for Sri Aurobindo’s, the Mother’s and Thea’s message to rise, take hold and endure is the final unmasking and expulsion of these retrograde forces from the occult seat of their work. And this can only be done with Knowledge. As Thea write: ‘It is the Vedic Divine Measure alone that provides the objective key which allows the Avatar to have his mission confirmed not by the sentimental, emotional and subjective experiences of his devotees, but rather the Cosmos becomes his credentials.’ Let us begin this important work as the Mother commanded,… in all sincerity and eagerness.
__________________
[* Blog editor's note: The author made the assumption that the title was a quote from IBN's interview with Heeh's even though it didn't appear in the published content of the interview. Upon being questioned about this detail, he is contacting the IBN interviewer, Sagarika Ghose, to clarify why she would have used this title for the interview if it wasn't taken from her encounter with Heeh's. An update clarifying this issue will be posted when Ms. Ghose provides her explaination.]
[* Blog editor's note: The author made the assumption that the title was a quote from IBN's interview with Heeh's even though it didn't appear in the published content of the interview. Upon being questioned about this detail, he is contacting the IBN interviewer, Sagarika Ghose, to clarify why she would have used this title for the interview if it wasn't taken from her encounter with Heeh's. An update clarifying this issue will be posted when Ms. Ghose provides her explaination.]
Footnotes:
1 Destruction of The
New Way manuscript: The original manuscript of The New Way was shredded in the offices of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Press because it gave out indisputable proofs that the revised architects’
version of the Mother’s temple plan was not what she had originally intended.
Anyone who doubts this need only read ‘The
Matrimandir Dialogues’ ( http://www.aeongroup.com/momtem.htm
) Out of her original seeing which was utterly destroyed by the architects, the
Mother recorded not only the arrangements of the elements of the room, but its
fundamental measurements as well. It is a womb of Supramental Gnosis from which
it is possible to receive the most essential information about the earth's
journey into the future. The keys to Time are contained in the inner room, and
the secret formula given in its sublime measurements. It records the descent of
the Supramental consciousness and the actual dates of birth of Vishnu’s
Evolutionary Avatars, which are in fact recorded in the measurements of the
Temple. This is why it has generated such hostility in those who would usurp
Sri Aurobindo’s authority and mission.
The New Way was later published in its entirety by Aeon Books along with numerous other volumes by Thea. A list of these titles may be found at: http://www.aeongroup.com/bks-art.htm
The New Way was later published in its entirety by Aeon Books along with numerous other volumes by Thea. A list of these titles may be found at: http://www.aeongroup.com/bks-art.htm
The New Way Vol. I
& II: A study in the rise and the establishment of a gnostic society,
Volumes 1 & 2, by ‘Thea’ Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet, at $45.00, from Æon
Books, ISBN: 0945747063. The preeminent symbol of a new consciousness now
manifesting upon the Earth is a cosmological structure known as the Mother's
Temple. This sacred structure is a living manifestation of the descending
Truth-Consciousness into Earth's atmosphere and symbolizes Earth's emerging
Soul. Written into its architectonic structure are keys to the harmonies of the
cosmos and the secrets of Supramental Time. ‘Thea’ explains the origins of this
contemporary temple design and its occult measurements which define the
evolution of consciousness on this planet.
The New Way and
other titles may be ordered through Aeon Books, P O Box 396, Accord, NY 12404,
USA, or Aeon Trust, P.O. Box 11,
Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, India. If you wish to contact Aeon Group the email
address is aeongroup@msn.com
2 Regarding Avatarhood: In an April 20 letter to her students Thea discusses Heehs’s
specious claim that Sri Aurobindo never claimed to be an Avatar. ‘I
realise that this issue of avatarhood cannot be appreciated by westerners because
it is not in their culture. But living in India since 1971 makes Heehs's
position unforgivable. He has no contact with the soul of this civilsiation -
of which the axis is the Dasavataras. I realise though that others cannot
vibrate to the importance of highlighting this aspect of his mission. For me,
there is nothing of greater importance for India and for the world. And when Heehs writes and states that Sri Aurobindo never
claimed the title for himself, this is absurd! He described the function of
each Avatar since Sri Ram - the mental man; Sri Krishna, the overmental; and
the next (skipping over the Buddha) would be Kalki, the Supermind. Kalki would
come to correct the error of the Buddha. Who, pray tell, has been the pioneer
of Supermind if not Sri Aurobindo? Where was Heehs living all those years? I had to come along to put each thing in its place. Thank
God for that, but I doubt any of you realise what this means...' Thea
3 Vishnu’s Line of Ten Avatars: Given the critical importance of Vishnu’s
appearance in our present Aquarian age, there can be absolutely no mistakes
about his identity, his position in the Line of Ten Avatars, and his
evolutionary mission. But due to the suppression of Sri Aurobindo’s irrefutable
Avataric credentials by Heehs and the Pondicherry elites, pretenders have
emerged claiming the title for themselves, further clouding the issue and
delaying the restoration of the Sanatana Dharma. The most prominent of these
pretenders was the Indian god-man, Sathya Sai Baba. For a detailed account of Sai
Baba’s empty Avataric claims and his lies concerning Sri Aurobindo made
believable by the treachery of Sri Aurobindo’s own disciples see: http://circumsolatious.blogspot.com/2011/06/sathya-sai-baba-counterfeit-avatar.html
Just out of curiosity Lori, where would you begin, in all sincerity and eagerness?
ReplyDeleteHey, That's a hard question to answer, mainly because I don't know either where you're starting from or where your wanting to GO. I started my studies in my mid to late 20's reading Sri Aurobindo and I was also naturally drawn to a casual study of astrology and the enneagram as well. So when I came to Thea's work I had a background in, understanding of (or at least a sincere appreciation for)the Supramental Yoga, the Zodiac and the hidden knowledge contained in the circle of 9. When I found The Gnostic Circle and connected to its contents and message, I then proceeded to study/read The Magical Carousel, The New Way1&2. After maybe 1.5 years of study I contacted Aeon Group wanting to be more involved somehow. I asked some questions and soon I was in correspondence with Thea, and got more involved with her work as time went on. Anyhow, what I'm trying to get at is that each person's approach and involvement with the work is going to be unique based on each persons dharma/truth. For me, I didn't fully dive into the Mother's yoga and her writings until I had studied Thea's work for a couple years. The time wasn't right (for me) until then.
ReplyDeleteI really don't know your situation, and what you have studied so far and or how much has sunk in.
What do you want to learn? That is a good question to ask yourself. I think that is how I guided my study. After reading TGC, I wanted to learn more about the zodiac as an integral journey, and more about the symbolism of the zodiac signs, and so I read TMC. After reading TNW12, I realized I needed to read Sri Aurobindo's The Secret of the Veda and Thea's The Hidden Manna and so on. Hopefully each book will help you understand certain things about the Supramental consciousness-force, as well as helping you understand what it is you need to develop in your consciousness NEXT.
Hi Ian, I am wishing you all the best in your studies … in your journey.
ReplyDeleteThinking about the above question/comments, I want to add that the 3rd stage of the Supramental yoga is largely about ORIENTATION (individually and collectively) within the Whole movement of Creation. And the key to that orientation is the zodiac. One must learn to understand the zodiac as a Divine measure … an orderly journey … a real framework by which the mind can progressively shift from its experience of a random, chaotic, unconscious, senseless, god-less material ‘Hell’ to a harmonious, precise, purpose-full, conscious, and divine material ‘Heaven’. To understand this shift within the whole context of the evolutionary journey, Sri Aurobindo’s The Secret of the Veda and Thea’s The Gnostic Circle and The Magical Carousel are probably the best places to begin.
Regarding your other comments (not published here), I do try to not take things personally. The process of re-orienting and aligning with this stage of the Supramental Descent is not kind on the personality/ego. All of the ego’s half-baked (i.e. ignorant) notions, conditions, sentimentality and goodwill are going to necessarily be incinerated.
‘For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror, which we are still just able to endure, and we are so awed because it serenely disdains to annihilate us. Every angel is terrifying.’ – R. M. Rilke
Whenever we hit a wall of the ego, we always have a choice whether to take its objections (its sense of abandonment, betrayal, hurt, etc) to heart as truth, or to dissolve that ego structure and move onward towards greater layers/levels of Truth of the Self. In this way our sincerity (our ‘Love’, our intentions, our Goals, etc.) will always be tested.
I will always be available to answer questions that are related to the Yoga, but I am not available for personal questions/interactions in this setting.
Also, I don’t know what your financial situation is, but donations to Aeon Group are a nice way to be helpful to Thea and her work. Friends of the work usually do find ways to express their gratitude and their involvement via actual assistance to the work on various levels (not just financial of course). But the first stage is really understanding the Knowledge that is offered … understanding its value. And that, as it turns out, is not such an easy task.
Best of Light, Lori
Hi Ian, There are a couple factors in my delay. For one, I am busy and have limited time and energy. My plate is really full. I did not read your FB post until you sent it along just now. I am happy you are connecting with Thea's writings and my postings. If you don't hear from me, don't take it personally. I just do not have the time and interest right now to engage unless the topic is REALLY about the Work.
ReplyDeleteJust enjoy your studies!!! There is so much to learn. So much to settle into.
‘The considered view of Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust is that it does not project itself in the role of dictating to readers and followers of Sri Aurobindo, as to what they should read and what they should not read. Each person is at complete liberty to decide for himself whether he finds any book to be meaningful and useful, or whether he does not find it to be so, and Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust respects and has full faith in the intellectual and spiritual discernment of the readers. No one should or needs to force his personal opinions on any other reader in general, and more particularly on the followers of Sri Aurobindo.’
ReplyDeleteIf you think for one moment that Aurobindo would have objected to this statement you and those who slavishly and cloyingly have turn him into nothing less than a stone idol of impenetrable and insurmountable proportions are sorely misyaken. He and Mira would have concurred with this simple assertion and dignified statement in support of simplest right of other opinions, voices and divergent views and perspectives, 100%.
The very essence of his path and being that cast him apart from others was his refusal to follow slavishly and blindly follow others. Moreover, he did not want tear-eyed devotees, he desired not infants but people who were courageous, capable and willing of self exploration at all levels. Completely antithetical to his and the Mother's nature was any attempt to convince, woo, stifle, suppress or repress a mutitudinous chorus of voices into a channel of fanaticism under the guise of devotion. The founding of a "new religion" called by another name (here the masking of fears upholding a single torch of light under the fear of rebellion or simple diversity of voice, dissent and divergence of intellectual opinion) is what they did NOT want. one scintilla. However, it is not just the fact that they would not want that, that then should serve equally as an Ideal but rather the simple developmental progression of the many-sided truths and paths of realization, when the infant separates from the "Mother" and begins to explore and venture out on HIS/HER own into "terrifying night" into the dark and backward abysm of time and unplumbed virgin forest of her Soul that thereto only begins a process of "human developmental maturation" and spiritual and empathic awakening. Anything less is a complete and utter farce.
With all due respect, he would have turned over and puked in his supramental dust had he realized or to what extent he would be turned into a symbol and caricature to be lord over others in order to suppress and drown out in the name of his "Avatarhood" (an epithet that he clearly did not desire), others' most basic and fundamental right of voice, diversity of opinion and perspective.
Hi Neil, regarding "If you think for one moment that Aurobindo would have objected to this statement ...'
ReplyDeleteI don't think for one moment that Aurobindo nor the Mother would have objected to this statement. My feeling, and Robert's is that he trustees have been out of alignment with this lovely statement since the 1970s. Regarding your comments about the ills of fanaticism and founding a new religion, that is clearly not what the Supramental Yoga and manifestation is or was about. I agree with you, but I'm not sure who your judging here, clearly you think people have gone awry in how they hold Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, and I agree with that as well. People get so worked up about the idea of Sri Aurobindo's avatarhood ... without bothering to attempt to understand what it even means. I recommend Ms. Bachelet's book 'Secrets of the Earth - Questions and Answers on the Line of Ten Avatars of Vedic Tradition', it's quite eye opening. As is the arguments about this issue seems pretty reactionary ... not based on knowledge.
Hi Lori, I am objecting here with respect to everything in the above by Robert and citations of Thea that drips with devotion to the point of miasma and blindness by placing Aurobindo and the Mother in such a deified or hagiographic light as to deftly blind by proclamation or (unconscious) passive aggressive intent. His [Aurobindo's] entire life was one of Irreverence. While indeed citing realized points (of symbolic and Inner correspondence) with Rama, Krishna and others he blazed his own path and would have been no less thrilled by others doing the same, that is in accordance to their own soul-light and multi-shadowed crevices along the way and not in accordance to the external guru - however large and new an "evolutionary attainment."
ReplyDeleteNow so great the temptation to fall into that it unwittingly plasters the soul into a drunkard condition, an inebriation of the Supramental or the Godhead if you will which is in reality far worse fate as it paradoxically achieves the opposite what otherwise would remain in the words of Plutonius, "A Flight of the Alone to the Alone." The latter is a far more precarious and dare say necessary path for much of humanity (i.e., weaning from a false group-think to a more maturation of individual think) to trudge through the Unknown than to merely hold up the symbol and pageantry of their Godhead.
It is so easy for most of humanity to cling to the albatross of a symbol (to imbue it for reasons that I wont psychologically go into here) and remain in a state of insolence tied to the teats of infantilism and adolescence.
He [Aurobindo] in fact despised blind devotion and belief and, again, would have been utterly appalled by the demands placed in His name by his loyal aspirants, followers, devotees upon all others - in accordance to their mental interpretation or translation of the symbol, pageantry and picture of the supramental light.
Let us not forget Aurobindo was not, for example, the devotee of Lele, Lele was a teacher along the way that opened up a path for new entertainment, a deeper contemplation and realization. He was first and foremost a poet, a revolutionary and a rebel. He was a revolutionary not only in his brilliant uprising against colonial occupiers but in the larger scope of profound literary understanding, psychological and spiritual realization and beyond any institutional constraints of dogma or religiosity or religious idolatry that the "supramental" has become in his name.
I believe the supramental to be a new realization and attainment. However, having said so it rapidly loses all meaning and becomes a weight of a far more serious kind when others paste themselves to that want and idealization. I think this understanding (what I am attempting to explain here) is largely lost and not amount of explaining can accommodate the infantile and adolescent compulsion or desire to jump into that image (or any other image) prematurely. Let's just say that if the supramental idealization or image was demanded of Aurobindo , let's say as a child born today (and launched criticism of any sort were met with furrowed brows and frowns) the many lives, paths and discoveries of the maturing child Aurobindo of today would have had a steeper climb or possibly been lost or cemented in a hermetically sealed tomb of dullness or sufficiently tempered as to bar its greatness of his own integral realization, in the Necessity of self discovery in ANY direction.
Spiritual light without the joie d vivre and the many faceted dimensions of human individual pain and discovery to zig-zag blaze its own unique path is a quite hollow attainment, no matter how supreme the Ideal that is lorded before us!
Thanks for taking the time to rant on my blog. I gather you find no value in Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet's writings/teaching. Robert obviously finds great value in her writings/teaching as an important extension of the Supramental Knowledge/Descent ... as do I ... an appreciation which you seem to think means fundamentalism, hagiography, etc. To each his own Neil. I tend to be interested in knowledge content ... what makes me understand things ... myself and the world better. That is why I'm attracted to Sri Aurobindo, the Mother and Patrizia's yoga, and yoga in general ... it has nothing to do with any of the crap you mention above.
ReplyDeleteLori, It would indeed be a bit more reflective, articulate and perhaps a bit mature of you to not in a completely puerile manner reduce what I have said in the two preceding long responses as" rant," which it is anything but, let alone call forth from the "spiritual well" of your hostility the epithet, "crap." Simply, you were unsure what my objections were and I simply responded accordingly and in abundant detail and yet you find it somehow to be a personal attack on you, fascinating! If you are unable or unwilling to respond in equal dignity and kind or cannot be bothered to separate or disassociate from what you feel as but isn't personal assault or wounded ego or whatever and assess what was written by me as critical of what clearly here to me and others in this published post is teeming overtly and implicitly with holding up the candle of hagiography then quite frankly you have no business opening your blog to the public which will invite varying agreeing and critical perspectives. When Robert in this post says as well as selected quotes from Thea.
ReplyDelete"In his book, Heehs actively rejects the evolutionary significance of Sri Aurobindo’s unique incarnation and in spite of the Mother’s unequivocal statements, encourages in his readers a complete disinterest in Sri Aurobindo’s ‘Avatarhood’, an omission that he excuses as a distracting hagiographic idealization in which he had no real interest."
And then goes on to quote Heehs:
"...What about the assertion that Aurobindo was an avatar? I can’t say that the question interests me very much. Aurobindo never claimed the distinction for himself,2 and I don’t think anyone alive is in a position to say one way or the other...' (Peter Heehs, from the Columbia website)3 (It should be noted that in an April
2012 interview reported by CNN/IBN Heehs’s ‘disinterest’ has taken a significant leap with him now being quoted as saying: 'Sri Aurobindo was a spiritual leader, not an Avatar.’"
This is one of many indications here in this post (and I have seen quote a number of others elsewhere) of attempting to observe and preserve of what was actually otherwise said by Aurobindo and the Mother, I can tell you unequivocally if alive today they would fully support and endorse Heeh. Heeh's is anything but a traitor or the infantile implied, "dancing asuras" polluting the intended message and prescient light. lol He is being sober, objective and quite inviting. Aurobindo under NO circumstance wanted to be regarded with such a heavy load for others to get (sheepishly) lost in. For God sake he never he wanted "disciples!" He wanted mature INDIVIDUALS to explore their own paths of light and obstruction and everything in-between. The point whether or not he was/was not an "avatar" is quite irrelevant, quite moot.
Neil, I take your comments not as an attack but as a reflection of YOU and YOUR thought processes and opinions. I actually didn't mean to belittle YOU with the word choice of 'crap', I was attempting to state that my interests are pretty darn simple!
ReplyDeleteTruth be told I have absolutely no interest in engaging with you or following or reflecting on your thought processes which to me seem to me to be a road to nowhere that I want to go. It's not personal. It's a question of resonance.
When people talk with zero resonance with or connection to what or who they are criticizing, I feel like they are ranting, like they might as well be talking to themselves (or barking in a mirror if they are upset). That is the context of my use of the word 'rant'.
To me, your words/objections seem completely out of touch with the beauty of the unfolding Supramental Manifestation that I have experienced ... to me it seems like you are focusing substantial energy and thought on things and words that mean absolutely nothing to me in light of the beauty/fount of knowledge contained in the yoga of Sri Aurobindo, the Mother and Patrizia. ... Like you are focusing on and expending energy in a direction that makes zero sense to me (like we are not even speaking the same language or about the same subject matter) and making assumptions that you shouldn't be making, about people and things you don't know ... including your assumption of the position/stance of assuring me or anyone of what or who Sri Aurobindo and the Mother would approve ... and your assumption of what is a moot point. A Moot point to YOU sure ... a moot point for many for sure ... but moot for the world soul and all of creation, you have NO authority whatsoever to make such a statement. None.
Anyhow, Adios ... I am clearly not a good audience for your particular set of concerns and issues regarding Sri Aurobindo, the Mother and how things have moved and developed since their passing. For me, they are non-issues ... phantom issues that not only miss the bulls-eye of the Supramental Yoga by a many a mile but also obscure it's light. Maybe others will buy that that you can authentically and authoritatively speak for Sri Aurobindo and the Mother and for the world soul regarding the matter of the avatar. I for one, do not.