29 July and 4 Aug: Talk on ‘The Synthesis of Yoga’
This was the fifth Sunday of the month. It was a bonus and in order to maximize on it, we were to have an enlightening talk by Jared on ‘The Synthesis of Yoga’. Jared had meticulously formulated a very nice handout which presented to us the precious gems from the book in such a succinct fashion. He was to speak on “Karma Yoga”. He started off with a very interesting fact about how Singaporeans work the longest hours in the world. So amidst all this activity, how were we to find time for Yoga, in our day-to-day life? The answer: Karma Yoga—Yoga through Works. Briefing us on the elements of Karma Yoga and the means to achieve it, he threw light on the various dimensions to it. This sparked off a very interesting discussion and various thoughts and ideas, so much so, that we had to carry forward some part of the Talk to the following Saturday.
12 Aug: “Elements of Yoga” by Sri Aurobindo (Work)
The last two weeks at the Centre were different from the usual. We had a very enriching talk by Jared on “Karma Yoga”. The second Sunday is when we read the book “Elements of Yoga” by Sri Aurobindo. With the spirit infused in us by the talk, we went one extra step to keep it up by choosing the chapter “Work”. After reading the chapter aloud, we used the “Commentaries on Elements of Yoga” by the Mother as a guide to help us understand it better. Sri Aurobindo and The Mother have given us such wonderful pearls of wisdom on Work, sadhana and how we must offer our Work to the Divine, without any attachment to the fruits of our Work. And the best part is that these pearls are so relevant to us in these times and days of our lives. Soaking in a bit of all the words read aloud and the discussions that followed, we sat for the Closing Meditation for the day.
19 Aug: Reading of “Sri Aurobindo and The Mother about Themselves”, “Vignettes” followed by OM Choir
We had all gathered at the Centre and started our Sunday session with an Opening Meditation. With the same calm, we formed a circle. We were to read a very special book that day—“Sri Aurobindo and The Mother about themselves”. It always feels good to hear about The Mother and Sri Aurobindo, that too in their own words. After a quick round of sharing our thoughts on the same, we picked up “Vignettes”. Each of us present there opened a page of our choice and read out the experiences shared by people like us, those who belong to The Mother’s family. They narrate short and sweet stories which show us how close each one feels to The Mother. Once done, we formed a small circle for the OM choir around a candle lit gloriously. We had a quick voice exercise session and then began offering our best OMs in a group. The synchrony and harmony of the OMs exude a very sweet musical effect which we all carried with ourselves as we left the Centre that Sunday.
26 Aug: Meditation with ‘Savitri’ Video
The last Sunday of every month is when we have the Savitri Reading Circle at the Centre. We were to read selected lines of Book 2 Canto 7 and Canto 9 –‘The Descent Into Night’ and ‘The Paradise Of The Life-Gods’. These are said to be very dense and intense cantos carrying with them the stark picture of the dark worlds of falsehood that King Ashwapathy traverses, as a necessary step in the Yoga of The King. Huta’s pictures capture the exquisite mystique in Sri Aurobindo’s literature. The lines give us insight into how the world has several superficially attractive looking things which lure us and lead us on a convoluted path of falsehood and they also tell us how all this fits into a scheme directed by the ultimate Master, God. Reflecting on these lines, we had a quick discussion and ended the activity at the Centre with a fitting Closing Meditation. - Preethi
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