Flowers speak… On Vital well-being

Light in the Vital Movements: This certainly means the beginning of wisdom.

First learn to know yourself perfectly and then to control yourself perfectly. You will be able to do it by aspiring at every moment. It is never too early to begin, never too late to continue.

***

Consent of the Vital: Friendly, smiling, always ready for action, with a great goodwill.

Keep a cheerful mind and a peaceful heart. Let nothing disturb your equanimity and make every day the necessary progress to advance with me steadily towards the goal

***

Correct Movements in the Vital: At once the cause and the result of conversion.

Control over the lower impulsions is the first step towards realisation.

Renunciation of desires: the essential condition for realisation.

***

Vital Endurance: Whatever the obstacles, we shall always go forward!

To know and be able to bear and endure, undoubtedly produces a firm and fixed joy.

(Flowers and their Messages, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Puducherry)

The Little Ego

This puppet ego the World-Mother made,
This little profiteer of Nature’s works,
Her trust in his life-tenancy betrayed,
Makes claim on claim, all debt to her he shirks.

Each movement of our life our ego fills;
Inwoven in each thread of being’s weft,
When most we vaunt our selflessness, it steals
A sordid part; no corner void is left.

One way lies free our heart and soul to give,
Our body and mind to Thee and every cell,
And steeped in Thy world-infinity to live.
Then lost in light, shall fade the ignoble spell.

Nature, of her rebellion quit, shall be
A breath of the Spirit’s vast serenity.

-         Sri Aurobindo

(SABCL, Volume 5, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Puducherry)

Seashore on a full moon night

(An Oil Painting by Sandhya)

September - October Sunday Activities at the Centre- A glimpse

September 11^th – Study of Secret of Veda:

The group completed the study of Sukta 2 of Mandala 1 of the Rig Veda based on Sri Aurobindo’s Secret of the Veda and Kapali Sastry’s Siddanjana.

September 18^th – Musical Offering:

A musical performance by Shantanu Bhatacharya was offered.

September 25^th – Study of Savitri:

We meditated on Mother’s extracts from Savitri Book I Canto IV in Meditations on Savitri.

October 2^nd - Study of Secret of Veda:

The group began the study of Sukta 3 of Mandala 1 of the Rig Veda based on Sri Aurobindo’s Secret of the Veda and Kapali Sastry’s Siddanjana.

SUKTA 3

1.    O Riders of the steed, swift-footed, much enjoying, lords of enjoyment, take delights in the energies of the sacrifice.

2.    O Riders of the steed, male leaders effecting a manifold action, take joy of the words, O holders in the intellect, by a luminous energetic thought.

3.    I have piled the seat of sacrifice, I have pressed out the vigorous Soma-juices; fulfillers of action, powers of the movement, come to them with your fierce speed on the path.

4.    Come, O Indra of varied lusters, these pure delights extended by subtle powers yearn for thee.

5.    Come, O Indra, impelled by the Thought, driven forward by the illumined thinker, to my Soul-thoughts, I who have pressed out the Soma-juice and seek to express them in speech.

6.    Come, O Indra, lord of the horses, with a forceful speed to my soul-thoughts; hold firm for us the delight in the Soma-juice.

7.    Come, O All-Gods, fosterers, upholders of active men, you who apportion the Soma pressed out by the giver.

8.    Come fast, O All-Gods, speeding up the waters unto our Soma that is pressed, like cows their place of rest and repose.

9.    O All-Gods, you who are not assailed nor cause injury, free-moving in your forms of knowledge, cleave to my sacrifice as its upbearers.

10. May purifying Sarasvati with all the plentitudes of her forms of plenty, rich in substance by the thought, desire our sacrifice.

11. She, the impeller to happy truths, the awakener in consciousness to right mentalisings, Sarasvati, upholds the sacrifice.

12. Sarasvati by the perception awakens in consciousness the great flood (the vast movement of Ritam) and illumines entirely all the thoughts.

Translated by Sri Kapali Sastry and Sri M.P. Pandit

October 9^th – Study of The Mother’s Questions and Answers:

Discussed, Questions and Answers from page no. 197 to 199

Q: What should be done to remember the Mother constantly? Should one repeat Her name, remember Her physical form or think or feel that She is the Divine? Is gratitude for the Divine a form of remembrance?

The Mother: Each one has their own way of remembering. Generalising how or what to do doesn’t make sense.

To remember, one must not forget!

Q: Can there be a collective form of discipline which is self imposed?

The Mother: There are 3 types of disciplines.

·         Group discipline: This discipline is formed when people form group and set rules. If one cannot follow, he/she can get out of the group.

So not self-imposed!

·         Discipline of Family Atavism: you are born into a family which inherits certain rules from the very past ancestors, not parents!

So not self-imposed!

·         Religious Discipline: Again you are born into a certain religion and have to follow the precepts the religion states. Most of the time people don’t dare to ask why and follow blindly the precepts like Words of Veda!

So again not self-imposed!

But one can get out of the above disciplines with strength and independence of character, to break through the group/family/ societal pressure of commotion and repercussion.

Mother’s answers made me understand that I too have no self-imposed discipline, all borrowed or born with!

-          Jared and Jayalakshmi

Along the Way… September 2016 Walk Review

The morning walk in September was at East Coast Park. This is the event of every month which we always look forward to.

East Coast Park which has a total land size of 185 hectares and which is built entirely on a reclaimed land, is one of Singapore's most treasured urban getaways. Its scenic coastline stretches over 15 km.

For a pleasant walk with our close friends, we normally look for flora and fauna. However why we should not expect the Sun and Sand in our sunny island? Exactly that is what we enjoyed on that beautiful Sunday.  Beautiful Sunday, because it is made beautiful by the presence of our close friends whom we are eager to meet and share our thoughts despite our busy schedule on rest of the days. We however deeply missed the regular ever young and energetic walker. You know whom I am referring to. Of Course, we missed Mr. Ramanathan.

After the warm up exercise, we started off for the morning walk on the pathways by the side of the sandy beach.

As mentioned, it was sunny and deep within the sand on the beach, we dived into the nostalgic past when we had a good chat with Mr. Krishnamurthy and Anand. There were a few tents that seemed to sprout on weekends. We could see the happy families just coming out of the tents, some with sleepy eyes after a beautiful night on the sandy beach.

Looking at the way the families were enjoying, we started talking about the past that we spent years back in our native towns. It reminded us of those good old days and how we lived the life despite so many difficulties of the time. Turn back the clock and we could see the families enjoying every festival together. There was no TV before 1972 in Mumbai and in the early days, even the radio had just come up. Look, those neighbors were happy to peep into the house to hear what was going on the radio. Those were the days that we enjoyed staying in a close community, sharing and caring.   We still can see all these values in many families. However the technology has taken us too far, so far that people can communicate just by tapping on the smart phones and not by expression.

The morning walk is not just a walk but it reminds us of the good things that we have lived. It lets us see the life in a different perspective, different than we see on all the days, immersing ourselves in busy life and looking forward to the next morning walk and the meditation.

As we walked and talked, we did not realise that we had covered 6.2 km in about 75 minutes. That is how the time can pass and we do not even feel the tiredness when we are in close company of our friends. It teaches us a very valuable lesson that we just have to accept it, contemplate and move on with the life.

After the walk, we had a warm welcome at Arjun’s house and we were treated to a delicious brunch.

The music was in tune with the atmosphere for the meditation. After immersing ourselves in the meditation, the beautiful prayers were read.  The birthdays were read out and could see the smile on the faces of all with exchanging the compliments.

We look forward to the next month’s walk and are eager to listen to the beautiful Bhajans from our dear Kashyap family.

- Kiran

October 2016 Walk Review

Experience the Divine Beauty amid Nature:

“The mountains in their anchorite solitude

The forests with their multitudinous chant

Disclosed to her the masked divinity’s doors” (Savitri Book 4 canto 4)

Divine Mother gave extreme importance to Nature's pristine beauty, untouched by human hands and artificial accessories. She used to go boating and walking, accompanied by a few devotees along the fields in Ashram Lake estate in early years. Fortunate were the flora and fauna there to experience Her Divine touch. She symbolically renames more than 500 species of flowers.

Auroville was the most arid and dusty land without the least possible  greenery during 1960s and by arduous dedicated work, it is turned now into the most verdant location covered with the foliage of thousands of trees including the rarest species of them surviving despite the adverse climatic conditions and water shortage there. The ancient Rishis of India and people reaching Vanaprasta phase (post retirement) of life preferred to live in sylvan hermitages along mountain valleys or the banks of rivers and lakes, because of their being most favourable spots from health perspective and conducive for the growth of inner faculties leading to spiritual realization. Therefore, Rigveda describes:

"Nature's beauty is an art of God. Let us feel the touch of God's invisible hands in everything beautiful. By the first touch of His hand rivers throb and ripple. When He smiles the sun shines, the moon glimmers, the stars twinkle, the flowers bloom. By the first rays of the rising sun, the universe is stirred; the shining gold is sprinkled on the smiling buds of rose; the fragrant air is filled with sweet melodies of singing birds, the dawn is the dream of God's creative fancy."  ( English  Translation is by Gita Press publication) (Rig Veda (1.6.3) describing Purusha manifesting in Prakriti)

SAS Singapore conducts monthly Nature Walks

Singapore reserves 50% of its very limited land resource for greenery and preserves the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, the only primitive forest in south East Asia yet retaining its position as the most developed commercial hub of Asia. Much greater credit goes for building the beautiful tourist attraction, Gardens by the Bay on the costliest prime central district with high budget allocation. The world's rarest species of plants are protected here with the most modern state of art botanical techniques amid the most aesthetic masterpieces by the world's greatest artists and sculptors.  

In this beautiful city, SAS Singapore is conducting Nature walks uninterrupted since several decades, even in the most unfavourable weather conditions, is possible only by the ardent aspiration and devotion of its members. This reminds me of the days spent in Ashram where no activity would be stopped or postponed due to external environmental conditions and several times we used to have 24 Nov balcony Darshan of Divine Mother holding umbrellas and fully drenched while standing in the street below.

On 2nd Oct, Nature walk No 375 was conducted in the exotic 'Gardens by the Bay South’ with approximately 12 participants assembling at 8:00 AM adjacent to the Visitor's centre. After completing the routine exercises, we began strolling slowly for 1.5 hour admiring the beautiful ambience. The main topic of friendly discussion among us was about the incapacity of several countries not developing such parks, even though they are highly blessed with extensive Natural resources.

Musical offering at Shashilal Kashyapji's place

Many members arrived directly at the host's residence. The program as per our practice, begins with meditation and wishing members celebrating their birth and marriage anniversaries in that particular month. With love for beauty and music permeating all over, the entire family welcomed each guest smilingly resembling the traditional Indian custom of 'Adhitidevo Bhava'. A most sumptuous Indian brunch with a wide variety of snacks tempting to the palate and the melodious musical recital, a total feast for the ears by three generations of the joint family, are most awaited annual occasions for SAS. The strings of love for music tightly bind the family into one single harmonious note and in spite of residing in Singapore, they have preserved with care the traditional Indian customs and sense of artistic decorations all around the house.

Initiating the musical offering, the grandparents, Shashilal Kashyapji and Urmilji, the made for each other, who have completed 55 years of conjugal togetherness, sang a duet and a few popular Ragas. Subsequently, their son Praveen and daughter in law Ramni continued with devotional Bhajans, accompanied by professional Tabla and Harmonium players and concluded with the famous Raghupati Raghava wherein the entire audience joined in chorus to elevate the atmosphere. Finally their smart grandson Amit, an award winner with extraordinary talent in BeatBox, had rendered the gathering to become youthful and entertained the audience with his rare musical presentation. This year, the cake cutting function was to specially celebrate the 80th birth anniversary of Shashilal Kashyapji.

The popular Rigvedic Mantra "sanagachhadwam samwadadwam :samni va akutih samana hridayanivah, samanamastu vo mano yatha vah susahati " (May our intentions and aspirations be alike , so that a common objective unifies us all ) is most appropriately practiced by all their family members. May such Nature walks and musical recitals motivate and help us on the path of Yogic Sadhana in SAS Singapore.

"All Nature was at Beauty's festival "
( Book 4 canto 1)

-          Mrs Balasundari Kottamasu Rao

Vital well-being

Nature of the vital realm

An important stage on the way to transformation.

Botanical Name: Alcea rosea

Common Name: Hollyhock

Spiritual Significance: Integral offering of the Vital

 

The Vital being in us is the seat of impulses and desires, of enthusiasm and violence, of dynamic energy and desperate depressions, of passions and revolts. It can set everything in motion, build and realise; but it can also destroy and mar everything. Thus it may be the most difficult part to discipline in the human being.

-         The Mother