Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo (August 15, 1872-December 5, 1950) was a great scholar, mystical poet, yogi and an aggressive Indian nationalist. He was actively involved in the politics of India. He is well known for his incredible contribution in the freedom struggle of our country. He came up with an entirely new system of spirituality. He called his pathway to spirituality the `integral yoga.
The basic objective of his teachings was to increase the level of consciousness of people and make them aware about their true self. His literary works include the writings on varied subjects like the Indian culture, socio political development of the country, spirituality etc. Well, in this article, we will provide you with the biography of Sri Aurobindo. Read on to know the complete life history of Aurobindo Ghosh.
Life
Sri Aurobindo was born as the son of Dr K. D. Ghose and Swarnalata Devi. Dr Ghose on the 15th of August in the year 1872 in Kolkata, India. He was named Aurobindo Akroyd Ghose. His parents wanted his upbringing to be in the European style. So, they got him enrolled in the Loreto Convent School at Darjeeling.
When he was seven years old, he was sent to England for the completion of education. He did his schooling from St. Paul`s School in London and graduation from King`s College, Cambridge. Side by side, he learnt several foreign languages like Greek, French, Italian German, Latin, and Spanish. He came back to India when he was 21 years old.
At the time of partition of Bengal, during the period between 1905-1912, he leaded the group of Indian nationalists. Later, he became the editor of a nationalist Bengali newspaper named Vande Mataram.
From politics to spirituality
As time passed by, Sri Aurobindo began losing interest in politics and started concentrating on spirituality. He came across a yogi named Vishnu Bhaskar Lele, who showed him the path of Hindu practice of yoga. He went into the state of deep meditation for a period of four years in Pondicherry. Then, he launched a 64 page monthly review "Arya". In the year 1920, his close spiritual collaborator named Mirra Richard joined him. She was more popularly known as `The Mother`. It is in the companionship of the Mother that Aurobindo Ghosh came up with the idea of establishing an ashram in Auroville.
Sri Aurobindo Philosophy:
Sri Aurobindo philosophy is based on the concept of `reality of Being and consciousness` amidst the big universe in which we live. The philosophies of Aurobindo Ghosh were very simple and clear cut. He taught people to become aware of their true self and feel the presence of divinity lying within them. More…
Sri Aurobindo Writings:
The early writings of Aurobindo Ghosh consist of the poems that he penned down when he was a student in England. He wrote quite a number of plays and poems, during his thirteen years of stay in Baroda. If you want to have a look at Sri Aurobindo works, you can check out the volumes titled Collected Plays that contain the short stories and plays written by him. His poetry is published in the volume Collected Poems. More…
Aurobindo Ashram:
Founded in the year 1926, Sri Aurobindo ashram has witnessed tremendous growth over the years. From a small group consisting of 124 disciples, today, the Aurobindo ashram has more than 2000 members. Since it is situated in the busy Pondicherry city of India, it is not a very peaceful place. Infact, it can be said about the ashram that, it is a very vibrant center that is always abuzz with activities.
2.Aurobindo Ashram:
Founded in the year 1926, Sri Aurobindo ashram has witnessed tremendous growth over the years. From a small group consisting of 124 disciples, today, the Aurobindo ashram has more than 2000 members. Since it is situated in the busy Pondicherry city of India, it is not a very peaceful place. Infact, it can be said about the ashram that, it is a very vibrant center that is always abuzz with activities. Read further to explore more information about ashram by Sri Aurobindo… There are no specific rules, regulations, practices or meditation systems that are ruling the ashram. People out there are given the liberty to decide their course of spirituality as per their individual nature. But, the basic phenomenon is the same for Sadhana. The only thing that is emphasized in the ashram is that, for meditation or prayer, it is vital to surrender to the God. People who live in the ashram engage themselves in one or the other activity. The task for administering the ashram is handed over to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust. The ashram established by Sri Aurobindo provides its each and every member with things that are required for leading a decent as well as healthy life. A number of departments have been created to take care of different things like providing food, clothing and medical care services to its members. There is also a library in the ashram. The ashram is equipped with all the modern facilities.
3.Sri Aurobindo Philosophy
Sri Aurobindo philosophy is based on the concept of `reality of Being and consciousness` amidst the big universe in which we live. The philosophies of Aurobindo Ghosh were very simple and clear cut. He taught people to become aware of their true self and feel the presence of divinity lying within them. Well, in this article, we will provide you with information on the philosophy and teachings of Sri Aurobindo Ghosh.
The old spiritual teachings taught people to keep the spirit away from their lives. However, Sri Aurobindo asked people to feel spirit while spending each and every moment of their lives. He asked people to integrate spirit in their daily lives. He said that the main object is to experience the delight of existence. He showed a different path of enjoying and deriving pleasure. He said that, if a person wants to experience delight, then he must strive to discover the higher spiritual nature.
Sri Aurobindo was of the opinion that, when a person discovers his true self and the power of divinity lying within, it brings about a rise in his level of consciousness. This enables him to rise above his ego, which often tends to hinder his progress. Ignorance is thus replaced by knowledge, which paves way for the success of a person.
4.Sri Aurobindo Quotes:
Here are presented some famous quotes by Aurobindo, who was a great Indian nationalist. For his good deeds, he is remembered by people even today. On one hand, where he is known to lead the Indian nationalist movement, then on the other hand, he initiated a new path of spirituality. If you surf the internet, there are plenty of websites, where you can find Sri Aurobindo Ghosh quotations. Read further and check out a few Sri Aurobindo quotes.
Hidden nature is secret God.
India saw from the beginning, and, even in her ages of reason and her age of increasing ignorance, she never lost hold of the insight, that life cannot be rightly seen in the sole light, cannot be perfectly lived in the sole power of its externalities.
India of the ages is not dead nor has she spoken her last creative word; she lives and has still something to do for herself and the human peoples.
India is the meeting place of the religions and among these Hinduism alone is by itself a vast and complex thing, not so much a religion as a great diversified and yet subtly unified mass of spiritual thought, realization and aspiration.
Metaphysical thinking will always no doubt be a strong element in her mentality, and it is to be hoped that she will never lose her great, her sovereign powers in that direction.
Life is life - whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man`s own advantage.
Indian religion has always felt that since the minds, the temperaments and the intellectual affinities of men are unlimited in their variety, a perfect liberty of thought and of worship must be allowed to the individual in his approach to the Infinite.
She saw the myriad gods, and beyond God his own ineffable eternity; she saw that there were ranges of life beyond our present life, ranges of mind beyond our present mind and above these she saw the splendors of the spirit.
Spirituality is indeed the master key of the Indian mind; the sense of the infinitive is native to it.
She saw too that man has the power of exceeding himself, of becoming himself more entirely and profoundly than he is, - truths which have only recently begun to be seen in Europe and seem even now too great for its common intelligence.
That which we call the Hindu religion is really the Eternal religion because it embraces all others.
The Gita is the greatest gospel of spiritual works ever yet given to the race.
To listen to some devout people, one would imagine that God never laughs.
They proved to me by convincing reasons that God does not exist; Afterwards I saw God, for he came and embraced me. And now what am I to believe- the reasoning of others or my own experience? Truth is what the soul has seen and experienced; the rest is appearance, prejudice and opinion.
Life is life - whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man`s own advantage.
5.Sri Aurobindo Writings:
The early writings of Aurobindo Ghosh consist of the poems that he penned down when he was a student in England. He wrote quite a number of plays and poems, during his thirteen years of stay in Baroda. If you want to have a look at Sri Aurobindo works, you can check out the volumes titled Collected Plays that contain the short stories and plays written by him. His poetry is published in the volume Collected Poems. In this article, we will inform you about the complete works of Aurobindo. Read further to know more about Sri Aurobindo Ghosh writings.
Sri Aurobindo came in limelight due to his editorials and articles that were published in the Calcutta daily newspaper named Bande Mataram. His political articles got published in the Calcutta weeklies. In the beginning, he was actively involved in the politics of the country. However, later, he focused his attention on the practice of yoga. After having concentrated on yoga for a long period of fourteen years, he came out with a 64 page monthly philosophical review called `Arya` in the year 1914, which consisted of all his important works.