This April issue of our Newsletter seeks to be a tribute to Sri Aurobindo as centres world over, led by Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry, celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Sri Aurobindo's arrival in Pondicherry, on the 4th of April 1910.
An occasion such as this provides an occasion to celebrate a past significant event that spells much in the hearts of many, a celebration in recognition of the revolutionary change that would have taken over one's life and of humanity as a whole. It is also a celebration of the promise that the future would hold for one, a consolidation of all of our anticipations, aspirations and a renewal of faith into a more concrete knowledge and certainty of a future manifesting something of the grandeur that was promised. A momentous occasion like this that invites an outer as well as a deep-rooted inner involvement of the being calls for nothing less than a consecration, of our work, our effort, thought, aspiration, a consecration of our mind, life, body – of everything that one does and is – to this Entity that has taken control of our lives, moulding it more and more into the shape of perfection. It, in all likelihood, has to be a consecration that spells a readiness to receive what the Divine has to offer without distortion.
Back at Pondicherry (or Puducherry as it is now known), as I made my way to the third floor of Society's Beach Office, an expectancy filled the air. A sense of urgency was there too to see the completion a building called The Annexe in time for a grand consecration. Having its beginnings in the term 'the annexe to Sea Side Guest House', The Annexe, is a three-storied building of sixteen rooms and is an extension of Sea-Side Guest House adjoining the Society Beach Office.
Standing on the wide balcony of the beach office that fronts the mighty Bay of Bengal, the Chairperson of the Society, Pradeep da, his eyes twinkling and then taking on a soft gaze, as he focuses far ahead, sums up the significance of the 4th of April in one phrase, "It is a celebration from within". A little smile lights up his face, as he recounts, half in words and half silently, the trials and tribulations, the personal struggles and victories that came with the erection of The Annexe. Right from its inception some two years ago, The Annexe marked a work of sadhana and a labour of love. Each element, each stone, each fabric that will adorn The Annexe looks poised to reverberate with Sri Aurobindo's name, and as Sushila behn, secretary of the Society puts it, simply because the building was conceived of and attempted, "taking His name".
Just as The Annexe takes its regal form and approaches its completion in order to be consecrated to Him on the 4th of April 2010, this occasion too gives individuals tied up with Sri Aurobindo and The Mother in magical ways to prepare for an inner consecration, simple and absolute, of all we do and are to Him. Thus may be fulfilled in time, long or short, the quest arising from within, for the Divine to fill our lives. Just like The Annexe, many shapes and forms, moods and sensations, ups and downs, mental formations of all kinds, wants and desires, our opinions and insistences, our highest aspirations, our works of love and beauty, all of these await in our own being to be consecrated unto the open arms of the Divine.
It seems no co-incidence now that this editorial was conceived while gazing out at The Bay of Bengal, at the remains of the jetty on which Sri Aurobindo set foot 100 years ago and changed the face of Pondicherry or Puducherry, forever, and our lives as well and the course of evolution for the whole of humanity, forever.
There is cause to celebrate. May we seize the moment to rise to the occasion, from within.
An occasion such as this provides an occasion to celebrate a past significant event that spells much in the hearts of many, a celebration in recognition of the revolutionary change that would have taken over one's life and of humanity as a whole. It is also a celebration of the promise that the future would hold for one, a consolidation of all of our anticipations, aspirations and a renewal of faith into a more concrete knowledge and certainty of a future manifesting something of the grandeur that was promised. A momentous occasion like this that invites an outer as well as a deep-rooted inner involvement of the being calls for nothing less than a consecration, of our work, our effort, thought, aspiration, a consecration of our mind, life, body – of everything that one does and is – to this Entity that has taken control of our lives, moulding it more and more into the shape of perfection. It, in all likelihood, has to be a consecration that spells a readiness to receive what the Divine has to offer without distortion.
Back at Pondicherry (or Puducherry as it is now known), as I made my way to the third floor of Society's Beach Office, an expectancy filled the air. A sense of urgency was there too to see the completion a building called The Annexe in time for a grand consecration. Having its beginnings in the term 'the annexe to Sea Side Guest House', The Annexe, is a three-storied building of sixteen rooms and is an extension of Sea-Side Guest House adjoining the Society Beach Office.
Standing on the wide balcony of the beach office that fronts the mighty Bay of Bengal, the Chairperson of the Society, Pradeep da, his eyes twinkling and then taking on a soft gaze, as he focuses far ahead, sums up the significance of the 4th of April in one phrase, "It is a celebration from within". A little smile lights up his face, as he recounts, half in words and half silently, the trials and tribulations, the personal struggles and victories that came with the erection of The Annexe. Right from its inception some two years ago, The Annexe marked a work of sadhana and a labour of love. Each element, each stone, each fabric that will adorn The Annexe looks poised to reverberate with Sri Aurobindo's name, and as Sushila behn, secretary of the Society puts it, simply because the building was conceived of and attempted, "taking His name".
Just as The Annexe takes its regal form and approaches its completion in order to be consecrated to Him on the 4th of April 2010, this occasion too gives individuals tied up with Sri Aurobindo and The Mother in magical ways to prepare for an inner consecration, simple and absolute, of all we do and are to Him. Thus may be fulfilled in time, long or short, the quest arising from within, for the Divine to fill our lives. Just like The Annexe, many shapes and forms, moods and sensations, ups and downs, mental formations of all kinds, wants and desires, our opinions and insistences, our highest aspirations, our works of love and beauty, all of these await in our own being to be consecrated unto the open arms of the Divine.
It seems no co-incidence now that this editorial was conceived while gazing out at The Bay of Bengal, at the remains of the jetty on which Sri Aurobindo set foot 100 years ago and changed the face of Pondicherry or Puducherry, forever, and our lives as well and the course of evolution for the whole of humanity, forever.
There is cause to celebrate. May we seize the moment to rise to the occasion, from within.
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