August is one of the few months where more than one special event marks our calendar. First Sri Aurobindo’s birth centenary features prominently, on 15th August. Then for all of us associated with India directly and through an Indian ancestry, the 15th means Independence for India from foreign rule, and a divine opportunity to take her true place in the earth scene. Then here in Singapore, our own National Day is observed, where some 47 years ago, on 9 August 1965, we gained our independence and freedom from foreign rule. Then, this year, our Society, The Sri Aurobindo Society, Singapore, observes forty years of existence, having been inaugurated with The Mother’s blessings on 14th August 1972.
In this Newsletter, we celebrate the birth of Sri Aurobindo and his unflinching presence in our midst even now, touching us, our lives, our souls in ways beyond the means of measure left for us by Nature’s faculties. Our surface nature may not know this; only something very deep in the secret cave of our heart’s chamber may know this ever-present relationship with the Divine. This is the only relationship that does not insist on a physical presence but transcends all sorts of relations we know on the surface. It is a subtle relationship we share with the Divine, and words do not so much succeed in expressing this. Only we know, with a deeper insight, what this is, where we are in this journey and how long and how much more to sojourn. Though it is Sri Aurobindo’s birthday, readers may wonder why the theme of The Samadhi dons these pages. It is for the simple fact that the Samadhi represents for many of us a living symbol of Sri Aurobindo’s and The Mother’s presence. The special atmosphere one would feel around the Samadhi is a unique one, a rare treat for the soul, a concrete presence, a result of the divinity that was them. Whether it is the thought of The Mother or Sri Aurobindo, whether it is the physical silence with which people carry out their work or move about, or the flowers, really… something about the Samadhi is special. If we care to go within even a little, we may discover that it may not necessarily be the above, though they play a part. It is how something deep within one communes with what is living in that atmosphere. Ever so often, a senior didi or bhaiya bids one goodbye, when leaving Pondicherry after a visit, with the words, “Bring the Samadhi with you”, said quietly, with a soft and sweet smile. Strangely, the meaning of this poignant statement has taken time to unravel itself. First one must know why at all one sits at the Samadhi, what at all it means to one and why at all are samadhi’s erected. This edition deals with these questions with articles from senior sadhaks like Nirodhbaran, M P Pandit and Udar Pinto.
In conjunction with the Society’s 40th Anniversary observation, this edition also carries a speech by Tay Joo Teck, our first chairperson. In that letter, delivered in 1975, he asks the pertinent question (which is also the title of the article) of why one should join the Society at all. This article may trigger important questions in us that seeks a Higher Reality than what is seemingly apparent and fleeting, impermanent or simply inadequate for the groping or growing presence of the spirit within. This is a good opportunity for us to dwell on our Society’s evolution to the present and our aspirations for the future. What the Society will be is ours to shape with our collective aspirations.
August will be a charged month, a certain consciousness will prevail, and this is a certainty. May there be an opening from within for light to be, for illumination and transformation of even a small fraction of this nature and lots of goodwill and love to one and all who belong to the Sri Aurobindo family, here in Singapore and in India and abroad, on this auspicious month.
In this Newsletter, we celebrate the birth of Sri Aurobindo and his unflinching presence in our midst even now, touching us, our lives, our souls in ways beyond the means of measure left for us by Nature’s faculties. Our surface nature may not know this; only something very deep in the secret cave of our heart’s chamber may know this ever-present relationship with the Divine. This is the only relationship that does not insist on a physical presence but transcends all sorts of relations we know on the surface. It is a subtle relationship we share with the Divine, and words do not so much succeed in expressing this. Only we know, with a deeper insight, what this is, where we are in this journey and how long and how much more to sojourn. Though it is Sri Aurobindo’s birthday, readers may wonder why the theme of The Samadhi dons these pages. It is for the simple fact that the Samadhi represents for many of us a living symbol of Sri Aurobindo’s and The Mother’s presence. The special atmosphere one would feel around the Samadhi is a unique one, a rare treat for the soul, a concrete presence, a result of the divinity that was them. Whether it is the thought of The Mother or Sri Aurobindo, whether it is the physical silence with which people carry out their work or move about, or the flowers, really… something about the Samadhi is special. If we care to go within even a little, we may discover that it may not necessarily be the above, though they play a part. It is how something deep within one communes with what is living in that atmosphere. Ever so often, a senior didi or bhaiya bids one goodbye, when leaving Pondicherry after a visit, with the words, “Bring the Samadhi with you”, said quietly, with a soft and sweet smile. Strangely, the meaning of this poignant statement has taken time to unravel itself. First one must know why at all one sits at the Samadhi, what at all it means to one and why at all are samadhi’s erected. This edition deals with these questions with articles from senior sadhaks like Nirodhbaran, M P Pandit and Udar Pinto.
In conjunction with the Society’s 40th Anniversary observation, this edition also carries a speech by Tay Joo Teck, our first chairperson. In that letter, delivered in 1975, he asks the pertinent question (which is also the title of the article) of why one should join the Society at all. This article may trigger important questions in us that seeks a Higher Reality than what is seemingly apparent and fleeting, impermanent or simply inadequate for the groping or growing presence of the spirit within. This is a good opportunity for us to dwell on our Society’s evolution to the present and our aspirations for the future. What the Society will be is ours to shape with our collective aspirations.
August will be a charged month, a certain consciousness will prevail, and this is a certainty. May there be an opening from within for light to be, for illumination and transformation of even a small fraction of this nature and lots of goodwill and love to one and all who belong to the Sri Aurobindo family, here in Singapore and in India and abroad, on this auspicious month.
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