Sri Aurobindo on India's leading role in the terrestrial evolution

A concert, a unity with the rest of mankind, in which we shall maintain our spiritual and our outer independence will be another line of our endeavour. But what now appears as a struggle may well be the first necessary step, before we can formulate that unity of mankind which the West sees only in idea, but cannot achieve because it does not possess its spirit. Therefore Europe labours to establish unity by accommodation of conflicting interests and the force of mechanical institutions; but so attempted, it will either not be founded at all or will be founded on sand. Meanwhile she wishes to blot out every other culture, as if hers were the only truth or all the truth of life and there were no such thing as truth of the spirit. India, the ancient possessor of the truth of the spirit, must resist that arrogant claim and aggression and affirm her own deeper truths in spite of heavy odds and against all comers. For in its preservation lies the only hope that mankind instead of marching to a new cataclysm and primitive beginning with a constant repetition of the old blind cycles will at last emerge into the light and accomplish the drive forward which will bring the terrestrial evolution to its next step of ascent in the progressive manifestation of the Spirit.

Sri Aurobindo

Excerpt: Renaissance in India, CWSA, Vol 20, Pg 93

International Zone & The heart of the world's spiritual life

According to Auroville Media Interface, the Consul Generals of Bangladesh, France, Japan, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand visited Auroville on 18th March."The Honorary Consuls of Spain, South Korea (Hyd) Seychelles and Switzerland joined online. Noting the welcome presence of the Eastern countries, Sri Aurobindo’s Five Dreams was shared, specially the second dream about the resurgence of Asia."

The Consul Generals with the Secretary of Auroville Foundation at the entrance to the Matrimandir

The Chairman, Governing Board of Auroville Shri RN Ravi, - in his recorded address at the meeting of the Consuls with the Secretary Dr. Jayanti Ravi, Dr. Nirima Oza, Member, Governing Board and Auroville resident members of various groups - said, "Anyone from anywhere, any country, coming from any background is welcome at Auroville." Dr. Jayanti Ravi "called upon the Consul Generals to engage with Auroville via cultural projects of the International Zone via the volunteer projects". She said, "It requires us to work with a bit of discipline individually. I think that discipline - the training of our lower nature, our ego, our personal preferences - is perhaps what she (the Mother) wanted us to do on the scale of a city." According to a spokesperson of the Foundation, the visit is part of an effort to invite consul generals of more countries. This is a commendable initiative by the Secretary and the Governing Board and hopefully will accelerate the development of the International Zone of Auroville.

 

Sri Aurobindo described India as "the Asia of Asia, the heart of the world’s spiritual life"* but regrettably except one, none of the possibly 40 state/country pavilions have been built so far in Bharat Nivas, the Pavilion of India in the International Zone. Participation of people from all the states and countries constituting true India, according to the map drawn by the Mother, is necessary for the completion of Bharat Nivas. "Auroville", the Mother wrote, "is created to realise the ideal of Sri Aurobindo" **. I hope the Foundation would prioritise the development of Bharat Nivas beginning wth an invitation to all the states & neighbouring countries of India. 

 

Ref:

*   Essays in Philosophy and Yoga, CWSA, Vol 13, Pg 140

** Words of the Mother - I, CWM, Vol 13, Pg 222

Sri Aurobindo's birthplace in Kolkata

 

The shrine at Sri Aurobindo's birthplace at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, No. 8, Shakespeare Sarani, Kolkata, yesterday morning.  The picture shows the marble-clad structure containing Sri Aurobindo's relics and a worker mopping after heavy rains in the morning. A marble bust of Sri Aurobindo is at some distance behind it, on a column pedestal.

The marble bust of Sri Aurobindo. (wet patches on the wall caused by rains.)

The entrance of Sri Aurobindo Bhavan. It is an impressive house but stands in some disrepair with fading and peeling paint.

Signboard for Shakespeare Sarani

The following interesting account of the house was found on the internet - from a letter dated August 1, 1978, from Nirmal Singh Nahar addressed to the Editor, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives and Research:

"It has not yet been established exactly in which year the house was built, although I was able to ascertain that in 1872 [the year Sri Aurobindo was born] the house belonged to a Jewish gentleman (most likely, one Mr. Ezra) and it is most likely that Sri Mono Mohan Ghosh, Bar-at-Law, had either taken it himself, or on behalf of his friend Dr. Krishna Dhan Ghosh, rented it to provide accommodation for the family of Dr. K. D. Ghosh, Sri Aurobindo’s father.

.......There is a curious coincidence [later] that during the initial period of his stay in England, Sri Aurobindo lived in a house on the street named after Shakespeare at Manchester [England] and it bore both Nos. 8 and 4. The coincidence is this that the original Theatre Road of Calcutta was also eventually changed to be named after Shakespeare and this house in Calcutta (Sri Aurobindo Bhavan) also bears the Nos. 8 (new) and 4 (old).

***

Previous to 1935 normally it was the official residence of Commissioner, Presidency Division and later on became the official residence of Premier or Chief Minister, First of Bengal, then of West Bengal. After Dr B. C. Roy became Chief Minister, it was the official residence of the Home Minister. After his death (Kiron Shankar Roy), the house was allotted as the official residence of the Central Rehabilitation Minister, Government of India. Afterwards, it remained vacant for some time until 1970, when it became the headquarters of the First Free Independent Bangladesh Government in exile," after Pakistan's General Yahya Khan, unleashed a massacre in East Pakistan. Bangladesh became an independent country after a 13-day war between India and Pakistan that ended with the surrender of the East Pakistan Army to Indian Army.

Afterwards on August 7, 1972 the West Bengal Assembly passed and enacted “The Sri Aurobindo Memorial Act, 1972 (Act XXIV of 1972)”  (...) which thus gave and converted Sri Aurobindo Bhavan as the National Shrine, with full concurrence and blessings of the Mother. 

P.S. There is also a claim that Sri Aurobindo was born at a different house in Kolkata. You may find the details about it and counter-arguments on the net. Having gone through them it appears certain to me that the one in Shakespeare Sarani described in my article here must be the actual place.

The following extracts from the book Talks with Sri Aurobindo Vol 1 by Nirodbaran removes all doubts in this regard:

December 2, 1939

Nirodbaran (when Sri Aurobindo lay in bed) : "Professor Mitra has asked me to tell you that his native village is the same as yours: Konnagar."
Sri Aurobindo : "I see, but I went there only once. My village is Theatre Road, Calcutta."

***

December 3, 1939

Nirodbaran (after Sri Aurobindo's walk) : "Did you say Theatre Road was your village?"
Sri Aurobindo : "Yes, I was born there in the house of the lawyer Manmohan Ghosh. It was No. 4, I think."

***

[First published on 10th September, 2011 on wordpress.com]