From the diary of Dhana…..
My son Vishnu and I had the blessing to be part of this historical trip to Pondicherry. The opportunity to meet and interact with some senior Sadhaks of the Ashram was interesting. One of them, who used to work closely with Nirod-da shared some wonderful memories with us. I happened to meet her again outside the Ashram dining hall the next day morning & received lovely flowers from her as Prasad. She gave them mentioning the spiritual name The Mother had given to those flowers. Another senior Sadhak from the Ashram shared about the Tamil books that he had written and also about another new book that he is about to write. He gave some blessing packets to be distributed to devotees in Singapore together with Agarbathi’s from New School Crafts, Auroville. These were placed at the altar at our centre and distributed on New Year’s Eve. Some of our members got the opportunity to meet up with another senior Sadhak Mona Sarkar at his residence. He shared with us on how his father was associated with Sri Aurobindo in the Alipore Jail case and their family moved to Pondicherry thereafter. He also shared with us about his experiences as a sportsman. . I heard that he was one of the Sadhaks at the Ashram who used to joke with The Mother & make Her smile always.
Another opportunity that some of us got are the visits to some of the Ashram Departments such as Laundry, Bakery, Playground, Corner House, Painting Dept and Dining Hall to know more about their daily functioning. Last but not least, the visit to “Sri Smriti” where articles and items used by Sri Aurobindo and The Mother are displayed.
During this trip, almost everyday I received one specific flower “tree jasmine” for which The Mother has given the spiritual name “Transformation”. Either I would find it on the roads on the way from The Ashram to the guest house or receive it from someone else. I feel that this is not just another ordinary happening but a hidden message that The Mother wanted to convey during this tip. This trip was indeed a small step towards “Transformation”. Here’s a picture of the flower & the significance that our Masters have given to it:
Transformation - The goal of creation.
This is what Sri Aurobindo wrote about Transformation:
There are different statuses of transformation. First is the psychic transformation, in which all is in contact with the Divine through the individual psychic consciousness. Next is the spiritual transformation in which all is merged in the Divine in the cosmic consciousness. Third is the supramental transformation in which all becomes supramentalised in the divine gnostic consciousness. It is only with the last that there can begin the complete transformation of mind, life and body - in my sense of completeness. – Sri Aurobindo
I used to think that my 17 year old son was always playful and did not spend enough time praying or meditating. However, seeing his enthusiasm in doing service at the Ashram dining hall, The Mother gave me another most important message of this trip - that his way of yoga is Karma Yoga! We are so much engrossed in the material life and build our beliefs based on our thoughts/assumptions that circle around with a small radius. We think that our beliefs are always right and sometimes we even get upset with others that they are not the way we want them to be. Experiences like this strike a chord to remind us that everyone has their own way to reach/serve the Divine and just the paths are different (Gnana Yoga, Bhakthi Yoga, Karma Yoga, and Raja Yoga).
I believe that this particular trip to Pondicherry would be one of the most memorable & meaningful ones in our lives.
- Dhanalakshmi
From the diary of Mr Lok …..
During our recent trip to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville, I had a few unforgettable experiences especially at the march-pass before the mass display in the sports ground, singing with the Om Choir and visiting Sri Aurobindo’s room on 5 Dec Darshan.
I was at first sceptical about the Om Choir. I believe in the power of Om but why it is called a choir? The answer was revealed to me during the Om Choir session held at the Savitri Bhavan.
The Om Choir of about one hundred people who were mostly non-professional singers began with singing of the first five notes of the western music major key as warming up exercises. This is to prepare our voice for singing the Om like any other athletes or singers who need warming up.
I was able to recognise the five notes of the warming up exercises because there was a structure. But when the choir started to sing, there was no structure. There was total freedom.
In western music and eastern music, musicians try to achieve freedom with improvisation. However, what they achieve is improvisation within a structure. There is no total freedom.
Because there is no structure, each member is free to sing the Om in any pitch and no one is able to sing “out of tune”. Yet, there is harmony. This is the mystery of the OM Choir.
Another mystery is that I discovered that the sound I heard that evening was more beautiful than any other I have heard before.
My wife asked me, “Is the music from the CD player?”
I had another strange experience. After listening to the music, I chose a pitch to sing the Om but the Om I produced was different from what I had prepared mentally to sing. This made me realise that the Om Choir produced music that was beyond the mind.
In Singapore, we have started the OM Choir. It will be great if we can have an annual international Om Choir meeting when one thousand people from all over the world gather under the Banyan tree in Auroville to sing the Om.
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