Inner Silence - Antar Mouna - Guided Meditation Technique

       Antar Mouna means 'Inner Silence'.  Antar Mouna is a series of guided meditation techniques that progressively cultivate witnessing, mindfulness and ultimately, self-awareness.  

• Witnessing is the ability to remain self-aware and aware of the mind at the same time.
• Mindfulness is the ability to remain aware and present in each moment.
• Self-awareness results in self-knowledge and a sense of purpose.

       Antar Mouna teaches you the two most important elements to develop your mind take the first steps towards self-mastery.  It empowers you to:

• Better manage your thoughts, emotions, memories, desires and attitudes.
• Deal with and prevent anxiety, depression and cognitive decline.
• Clean the mind of old toxic thoughts and emotions.
• Access your innate resilence, intelligence and intuition.
• Develop authentic self-confidence.

       Antar Mouna is the foundation of yoga psychology and yoga therapy.  Mindfulness is scientifically recognized as a psychological intervention for stress, anxiety and various mental illness.

       Antar Mouna is a technique that empowers you to attain enlightenment by showing you how to disentangle yourself from an overactive mind.  The practice leads to an enlightening experience of deep inner silence and self-awareness.

      Swami Satyananda Saraswati of the Bihar School of Yoga, India, created 6 stages to Antar Mouna.  It is essential to master these stages prior to the more advanced and demanding stages.

Antar mouna Stage 1:

Teaches you to become aware of sensations in order to deeply relax the mind and to go within yourself without sleeping.

Antar Mouna Stage 2:

Teaches you to remain self-aware while passively observing the mind.  This allows you to remain relaxed when disturbing thought and emotion arises from the subconscious mind or while facing challenging situations.

What is Antar Mouna - Inner Silence?

       The Sanskrit word mouna means 'silence', and antar means 'inner'.  Therefore, the English name of this practice is "inner silence" and it is a great sadhana designed to make the aspirant aware of their inner silence as well as the inner noise which generally prevents one from knowing the silence.

       In our daily life our minds are almost continually externalized.  We see and hear only what is going on outside of us, and we have little understanding of the events  taking  place in our inner environment.  The practice of antar mouna is designed to turn this around, so that for at least a short period we can see the workings of our mind and understand them.  In reality antar mounta is one of the few "permanent sadhanas" which can be practised spontaneously all the twenty-four hours of the day by anyone who is really determined to know oneself.  By maintaining awareness of one's internal environment, thoughts, emotional reactions, etc., one can speed up one's personal evolution to the utmost degree.  It will make one understand the workings of one's own rational and irrational mind, as well as giving one an understanding of what make other people tick.

       The technique for the meditational practice of antar mouna is the first step toward attaining this permanent state of inner understanding.  Although it is to be practised for a maximum of one hour a day, its effect carry on after the practice is over and one will automatically start to know his own 'hidden side' and to see how he is reacting to life's situations in the clear and honest manner.

Stages of antar mouna

       The practice of antar mouna is sub-divided into number of stages.  The first stage of the technique is to be aware of all the outside sounds and occurrences that are going on around you.  The second stage is to withdraw oneself from all outside stimuli and to be aware only of the workings of the mind: what it is thinking, how it is reacting and what images are coming from the subconscious.  The third stage is the conscious creation for thoughts, which is followed in stage 4 by awareness and dissolution of spontaneous thoughts.  Stage 5, the last practicable stage, it is the suppression or removal of all thoughts, or the awareness of shoonya (the void), followed in stage 6 by the state of spontaneous meditation.

       Antar mouna is a complete training system for the awareness process; it teaches one how to know the processes of the mind and ways in which one can bring them under control.  It can e practised at any time by simply reflecting on the question, "What am I thinking?  What is occurring now in my mental sphere?"  When practised many times daily, this witnessing process becomes an automatic occurrence continuing by itself and showing you who you are, what you are doing here and where you are going.  It can truly be said that in this practice through the awareness of inner noise you will come to know the voice of silence, the golden sound that sings of eternity.

Antar Mouna - Inner Silence - Guided Meditation Techniques

Stage I:  Awareness of external stimuli.

The practice of antar mouna begins.

Please close your eyes and keep them closed throughout.

The asana is steady, the position is steady, the eyes are closed, the spinal cord is erect.

"I am prepared for inner silence" - this should be the mood of the mind.

Preliminary practice is not awareness of internal things, but awareness of external sensual experiences, different sounds, different sensations, different sensual experiences.

Concentrate on the external sounds and sensations, not at all considering them to be disturbances in concentration.  

With absolute concentration, with total external awareness do this practice until you find a change of atmosphere in your mind.

Don't fight with your senses, do not struggle with your sense expressions and sense experiences but become aware or become a spectator of them.

You should be aware.

You should also awaken the awareness of 'I am aware, I am hearing, I am aware that I am hearing Swamiji speaking'.

In this way the mind and the senses should be trained to become undisturbed by the sensual experiences. 

Neither the sound nor the taste nor the touch or anything else should disturb you at any cost.

Inspire of the fact that you hear the outer sounds or that you experience different sensations in your physical body, such as itching, laziness, scratching and so on, you should not be disturbed by them.  This particular aspect of sadhana is known as pratyahara, the fifth step of raja yoga.

Pratyahara means withdrawal of the senses, as hinted by Lord Krishna in the second chapter of Gita.

"Even as the tortoise withdraws its body within the framework of the shell, in the same manner the senses should be withdrawn."

Not by force but by a technique the senses should be withdrawn from the respective objects of the senses.

The senses should be calmed down by the drashta or sakshi attitude.

The senses should be calmed down by the attitude of "I am witnessing the experience of hearing and I am aware of the sound, the music of birds."

'I' is the third thing in this process.  

First is the ears, second is the object of experience, the sound, the music of the birds, and third is I, who is the spectator, who is the witness of this process of sense experiences.

Then in this way you should distinctly and deeply and intensely, with classification, develop this threefold awareness in the first stage of antar mouna.

The experiencer, the object of the experience and the seer of both.

The subject and the object, the ears and the sound, the eyes and the form, the skin and the touch, the tongue and the taste, the nose and the smell.

This should be witnessed properly, without any sense of disturbance.

This is the introversion of your sense experiences  and this you should do at any time, not at all hating the outer experiences, but looking at them with drasta bhava, with the attitude of a witness.

You will find within a few moments there is an atmosphere of calm, tranquility and peace, and then you will be ready for meditation.

This is for your homework for today.

Please practice it at home, at night, in the evening or in the day time; in the car or in the rickshaw; wherever you are, amidst your friends or alone.

Do not wait for calmness and silence.

There will be noise, there will be disturbances, the body will shake but you must develop the dharma of the calm and silent witness.

Stage 2:  Awareness of spontaneous thought process

The second stage of antar mouna consists of becoming aware of your thinking process.

You should become aware of thoughts, the spontaneous thought process, thoughts that come and go of their own accord.

You don't have to bring in a thought flow.

Let it come spontaneously and let it go of its own accord.
You must remain a silent witness of every thought that is going through your mind.

When you become aware of a particular thought you will have to say to your mind, 'Yes, I am thinking about this and that.'

If the mind supposedly become free of thought you should try to become aware of that state also.

There can come a stage of thoughtlessness even in the case of a beginner.

You are looking at the process of your thoughts and you are bound to be sure of the thoughts that are passing through.

You should remain alert all throughout, and the form of this is not to check the thoughts but to know the thoughts.

If sometimes you become absent minded and then you revive your consciousness, say to yourself,
'Well, I became absent minded for sometime and during those moments I was thinking of this and that.'

But please try to be aware of all thoughts that are spontaneously coming up, that are manifesting on your conscious plane.

They may be good thoughts, or they may be bad thoughts, but those thoughts do not come from anywhere outside.

They are expressions of your inner personality, they are expressions of yourself.

In the first kriya, in the first practice, the sense experiences came from outside.

Here, in this kriya the thoughts are manifestations or expressions of your inner self.

So therefore when you are able to see your own thoughts, you are able to know the content of your personality.

If bad thought do not come to your conscious mind continually, it mean that either you have become a liberated sage or only that the suppression is still there and the said suppression is too tight, the suppressions of the subconscious mind are not released.

Therefore, remember that you are an aspirant.

Remember you are a practitioner of dharana.

Remember you are a practitioner of pratyahara.

Bad thoughts and good thoughts will come.

They should come and you must bring them up.

If they come, please look at them differently, with absolute detachment, as a witness or as a spectator.

This is the second stage of antar mouna.

It is the practice of pratyahara in Raja Yoga.

The first step in Raja Yoga, is yama, then niyama, then asana, then pranayama and then comes pratyahara.

Pratyahara means return, pratyahara means retreat, pratyahara means withdrawal.

Please listen with absolute attention.

When bad thoughts come to your mind, do not stop them; immediately become alert, become aware that you are thinking of murder, of revenge, of robbery and so on.

If bad thoughts come to you and you set them aside, if you don't want to observe them, if you suppress them, they will come to you with greater force next time.

Stage 2:  Awareness of spontaneous thought process [Short Practice]

Sit or die down comfortably.

Don't create any mental inhibition, don't withdraw your mind.

Don't hate any experience, don't love any experience, don't react to any experience.

Don't react to any desirable experience, thought or feeling.

Let the sense capacities flow in freedom.

Don't withdraw the mind from disturbances, but follow the disturbances of thought, sound or any kind of disturbance.

Thoughts are stimulated and spontaneous from the depth of your mind. 

Thoughts without stimuli, or thoughts with stimuli from outside sounds.

Listen to any disturbing sound and follow it with awareness and concentration.

Follow every thought as a witness, as if you are looking from one corner of your brain.

'I am thinking... I am listening.... I am having this sensation.'

Keep on listening, seeing, witnessing the process of your concentration.

You will find thoughts coming-up, unstimulated, unagitated, from the very depth of your past. 

Meaningless, insignificant thoughts, in the form of a glimpse or in the twinkling of an eye.

Unless you are a careful witness, it will not be possible for you to follow the swift speed of your consciousness.

You will follow the free flow of your consciousness.

Spontaneous, desirable, undesirable.

Sometimes there is a mental block and no thoughts come.

It means that consciousness is not manifesting itself.

The mind goes on thinking.

Even now you are thinking, although you do not see it.

There is a veil put over the thought process.

Tear it off and find thought after thought.

They belong to past, present, different associations, like lightning.  

When a thought comes, see it and register it in your mind.

Many thoughts you don't want to remember, you want to escape from.

This is natural.

To escape from the thought is our psychological nature.

Memory or past; everything is suppressed.

If the veil is removed, it can manifest itself, and when it works in freedom there is joy and happiness.

If the past expresses itself while you are practising detached witnessing, you become free from agony and other reactions.

Most important is to see yourself.

One - allow freedom.

Two - see yourself.

The whole process of manifesting, of course.

Don't oppose any thought, don't hesitate, don't suffer from any thought of guilt.

Free thinking but vigilant seeing.

You are no the thought, but you are the witness of the thought.  Absolute detachment.

Don't associate yourself with any thought, keep yourself separate, as a seer of thoughts, as a beholder of experiences.

You are not the thought, you are not the energy of your consciousness  you do not hate any thought, you do not love any thought, you do not like any thought, and you do not dislike any thought, but allow them to manifest.

You do not see yourself thinking.

It is difficult to see yourself thinking

It is easy to think unconsciously; it is difficult to think consciously.

The thinking process is spontaneous.

Sometimes the process is stimulated by external influences.

Spontaneous thoughts come from the very depth of your personality.  

Withdraw the curtain of inhibition, then the thoughts come spontaneously.

But if they don't come spontaneously, then we shall stimulate the thinking process.

When the consciousness manifests itself freely, when the curtains of the inhibitions are fully or partially withdrawn, then first the horrible thoughts will come.

Good thoughts will come later.

If they come in the beginning, they come on account of your social behaviour or environment, because you have been taught to be good, merciful, etc., but this is not a true manifestation of your consciousness.

That is the negative face of your consciousness, your personality, your past; it has to come out and if not in thoughts, then it comes out in actions.

Don't be shy or tense; remain as a witness of the whole process.

Don't identify yourself with any thoughts, remain a witness, apart.

It may be the feeling of sleep, or drowsiness, any thought from outside, or the thought of this sound.

Always say, 'I am a witness of what I hear, of thoughts passing in my mind, feelings of whatever, or the thought of the practice.'

Be a witness of any thought, of any silly thought.

Constant awareness of anything happening in and outside you, in your consciousness or in your subconsciousness.

In you the the witnessing consciousness, in you the ever alert consciousness of witnessing thoughts.

The more you come to that inner consciousness, the more you become that beholding.

If you are able to awaken the inner consciousness in the form of a witness, then nothing in your mind will go unnoticed.

Even the flickering of your eye or scratching of the body, or the slightest thought, everything will be noticed by you.

If you will be able to keep your inner consciousness alert, then no phenomena concerning you will go unnoticed.

No thought, no feeling; consciousness  unconsciousness and subconsciousness will be unfolded to you; your whole consciousness will be unfolded to you.

The most important things are to keep the inner consciousness constant, and that you yourself should manifest thoughts, feelings, senses and processes.

The inner consciousness must be constantly vigilant, should watch peace, agitation, disturbance, desirable and undesirable thoughts.

You must behold all feelings, all thoughts, all dimensions of consciousness.

Anything your mind can comprehend, your inner consciousness must be constant beholder of that.

And if the thoughts stop in a mental block - nothing comes, then you must behold that nothing is coming.

Any painful situation which might come up, witness it.

Register constantly what you see, hear, know, feel, "I know, I feel, I hear, I see', and so on.

This will be a truly wonderful experience of self-purification, self-witnessing and self-analysis, free mind and alert consciousness.

Go on thinking and beholding, open the door of your thoughts, open your subconscious mind, go on seeing it.

Now withdraw your mind from freedom because the practice of antar mouna is over.

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Source: Excerpts from the book on Meditations from the Tantras by Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Bihar School of Yoga.

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GRATITUDE - A Great Mystery is revealed

Gratitude - A great mystery is revealed

       The following passage comes from the Gospel of Mathew in the Holy Scriptures, and it has mystified, confused, and been misunderstood by many people over the centuries.  

"Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance.
Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."

       You have to admit that when you read the passage it appears unjust, as it seems to be saying that the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer.  But there is a riddle to be solved in this passage, a mystery to uncover, and when you know it a new world will have opened up for you.

      The answer to the mystery that has eluded so many for centuries is in one hidden word: gratitude.

Whoever has gratitude will be given more, and he or she will have an abundance.
Whoever does not have gratitude, even what he or she has will be taken from him or hers."

       By the revelation of one hidden word, a cryptic text is made crystal clear.  Two thousand years have passed since those words were recorded, but they are as true today as they ever were: if you don't take the time to be grateful you will never have more, and what you do have you will lose.  And the promise of the magic that will happen with gratitude is in these words:

If you are grateful you will be given more, you will have an abundance! 

From the Koran the promise of gratitude is equally emphatic:

"And (remember) when God proclaimed: 

'If you are grateful I will give you more;
but if you are ungrateful verily my punishment is indeed severe."

       It does not matter what religion you follow, or whether you are religious or not, these words from the Holy Scriptures and the Koran apply to you and your life.  They are describing a fundamental law of science and of the Universe.

Gratitude - It's Universal Law

       Gratitude operates through a Universal Law that governs your whole life.  According to the Law of Attraction, which governs all the energy in our Universe, from the formation of an atom to the movement of the planets, "like attracts like."  It's because of law of attraction that the cells of every living creature are held together, as well as the substance of every material object.  In your life, the law operates on your thoughts and feelings, because they are energy too, and so whatever you think, whatever you feel, you attract to you.

        If you think, "I don't like my job," "I have not got enough money," "I can't find my perfect partner," "I can't pay my bills," "I think I am coming down with something,"  "He or she doesn't appreciate me,"  "I don't get along with my parents," "My child is a problem," "My life is a mess," or "My marriage is in trouble," then you must attract more of those experiences.

       But if you think about what you're grateful for, like, "I love my job," "My family is very supportive," "I had the best vacation," "I feel amazing today," "I got the biggest tax refund ever," or "I had a great weekend camping with my son," and you sincerely feel the gratitude, the law of attraction says you must attract more of those things into your life.  It works in the same way as metal being drawn to a magnet; your gratitude is magnetic, and the more gratitude you have, the more abundance you magnetize.  It is Universal Law!

       You will have heard sayings like, "Whatever goes around comes around comes around," "You reap what you sow," and "You get what you give."  Well, all of those sayings are describing the same law, and they are also describing a principle of the Universe that the great scientist Sir Isaac Newton discovered.

       Newton's scientific discoveries included the fundamental laws of motion in the Universe, one of which says:

       Every action always has an opposite and equal reaction.

       When you apply the idea of gratitude to Newton's law it says: every action of giving thanks always causes an opposite reaction of receiving.  And what you receive with always be equal to the amount of gratitude you have given .  This means that the very action of gratitude sets off a reaction of receiving!  And the more sincerely and the more deeply grateful you feel (in other words, the more gratitude you give) the more you will receive.

The Golden Thread of Gratitude

       Dating back thousands and thousands of years to the earliest recordings of humankind, the power of gratitude was preached and practiced, and from there was passed on through the centuries, sweeping across the continents, permeating one civilization and culture to the next.  The major religions of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Sikkhism and Hinduism all have gratitude at their core.

    Muhammad said that gratitude for the abundance you have received is the best insurance that the abundance will continue.

       Buddha said that you have no cause for anything but gratitude and joy.

       Lao Tzu said that if you rejoice in the way things are, the whole world will belong to you.

       Krishna said that whatever he is offered he accepts with joy.

      King David spoke of giving thanks to the whole world, for everything between the heavens and the Earth.

       And Jesus said thank you before he performed each miracle.

       From the Australiam Aborigines to the African Maaasai and Zulu, from the American Navajo, Shawnee, and Cherokee, to the Tahitians, Eskimo and Maori, the practice of gratitude is at the very root of most indigenous traditions.

"When you arise in the morning,
give thanks for the morning light,
for your life and strength.
Give thanks for your food and the joy of living.
If you see no reason for giving thanks,
the fault lies with yourself."
- TECUMSEH (1768-1813)
SHAWNEE NATIVE AMERICAN LEADER

       History is laden with famous figures who practiced gratitude, and whose achievements put them amongst the greatest human beings who have ever lived:  Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., the Dalai Lama, Leonardo Da Vinci, Plato, Shakespeare, Aesop, Blake, Emerson, Dickens, Proust, Descartes, Lincoln, Jung, Newton, Einstein, and many, many more.

       Albert Einstein's scientific discoveries changed the way we see the Universe, and when asked about his monumental achievements, he spoke only of giving thanks to others.  One of the most brilliant minds of all time thanked other people over a hundred times a day for the work they had done!

       Is it any wonder that so many of life's mysteries were revealed to Albert Einstein?  Is it any wonder that Albert Einstein made some of the greatest scientific discoveries in history?  He practiced gratitude for every single day of his life, and in return he received many forms of abundance.

       When Isaac Newton was asked how he had achieved the scientific discoveries he made, he said that he stood on the shoulders of giants.  Isaac Newton, recently voted the greatest contributor to science and humankind, was also grateful to those men and women who lived before him.

       The scientists, philosophers, inventors, discoverers, and prophets who practiced gratitude reaped its results, and most were aware of its inherent power.  Yet still gratitude's power is unknown to most people today, because to experience the magic of gratitude in your life you have to practice it!

Bring the magic into your life

       No matter who you are, no matter where you are, no matter what your current circumstances, the magic of gratitude will change your entire life!

       Gratitude can magically turn your relationships into joyful and meaningful relationships, no matter what state they are in now.  Gratitude can miraculously make you more prosperous so that you have the money you need to do the things you want to do.  It will increase your health and bring a level of happiness beyond what you have ever felt before.  Gratitude will work its magic to accelerate your career, increase success and bring about your dream job or whatever it is you want to do.  In fact, whatever it is that you want to be, do, or have, gratitude is the way to receive it.  The magical power of gratitude turns your life into gold!

       As you prctice gratitude, you will understand why particular things in your life may have gone wrong, and why certain things might be missing from your life.  As you make gratitude a way of life, you will wake up each morning so excited to be alive.  You will find yourself completely in love with life.  Everything will seem effortless.  You will feel as light as a feather and happier than you have ever felt before.  While challenges may come, you will know how to overcome them and learn from them.  Every day will be magical; every day will be filled with far more magic than when you were a child.

Is Your Life Magical?

       You can tell right now how much you have actually used in your life.  Just take a look at all of the major areas in your life: money, health, happiness, career, home and relationships   The areas of your life that are abundant and wonderful are where you have used gratitude and are experiencing the magic as a result.  Any areas that are not abundant and wonderful are due to a lack of gratitude.

       It is a simple fact: when you are not grateful you cannot receive more in return.  You have stopped the magic from continuing in your life.  When you are not grateful you stop the flow of better health, better relationships, more joy, more money, and the advancement of your job, career, or business.  To receive you have to give.  It is the law.  Gratitude is giving thanks, and without it you cut yourself off from the magic and from receiving everything you want in life.

       The bottom line of ungratefulness is that when we are not grateful, we are taking, we are taking things in our life for granted.  When we take things for granted we are unintentionally taking from ourselves.  The law of attraction says that like attracts like, so if we take something for granted, we will be taken from as a result.  Remember, "whoever does not have gratitude, even what he or she has will be taken from him or her."

       Most certainly you have been grateful at various times in your life, but to see the magic and cause a radical change to your current circumstances, you have to practice gratitude and make it your new way of life.

The Magic Formula

"Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it."
- IBN KHALDOUN AL MUQUADDIMA (1332-1406
SCHOLAR AND STATESMAN

       Ancient myths and legends say that to bring forth magic a person must first say "the magic words."  Bringing the magic from gratitude works in the same way, and first you must say the magic words: thank you.  I cannot begin to tell you how impartant the words thank you are for your life.  To live in gratitude, to experience the magic in your life, thank you must become the two words you deliberately say and feel more than any other words.  They need to become your identity.  Thank you is the bridge from where you are now, to the life of your drams.

The Magic Formula:

1.  Deliberately think and say the magic words

     thank you. 

2.  The more you deliberately think and say the magic words, thank you, the more gratitude you feel.

3.  The more gratitude you deliberately think and feel, the more abundance you receive.

       Gratitude is a feeling.  So the ultimate aim in practicing gratitude is to deliberately feel it as much as you can, because it is the force of your feeling that accelerates the magic in your life.  Newton's law is one for one - what you give you receive, equally.  That means that if you increase your feelings of gratitude, the results in your life will expand to be equal to your feeling!.  The truer the feeling, the more sincerely grateful you are, the faster your life will change.

       When you discover how little practice it takes, how easy it is to incorporate gratitude into your daily life, and when you see the magical results for yourself, you will never want to return to the life you used to live.

       If you practice gratitude a little, your life will change a little.  If you practice gratitude a lot every day, your life will change dramatically and in ways that you can hardly imagine.

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Source: Excerpts from the book "The MAGIC" written by Rhonda Byrne

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In Indian culture..why do we worship Bull [Nandi] and Cow?

       The Hindus consider the bull and cow as sacred.  This has a significance.  The worship of these animals means worshipping the principle of sacrifice and service which they represent so that the worshippers could imbibe this great principle into their own living.  Today the basis of worship is lost, the principle of sacrifice and service is hardly practised by anyone although the orthodox Hindus hold on to these animals fanatically.

In Indian Culture..Why do we worship Bull [Nandi]?

       The bull is called Nandi.  A stone carving of Nandini is sen in the Siva temple outside the sanctum sanctorum with its head turned towards the shrine.  The idols and its positioning carry a meaning.  India being basically an agricultural country  the bull plays a very important role in the lives of people.  Even after the innovation of tractors in the agricultural fields, the bull is indispensable.  Besides its utility in the agricultural fields the bull also epitomises the very culture of India.  It demonstrates a great principle of living.  

       The bull toils the whole day in the hot sun and helps cultivate the fields for producing grains throughout the length and breadth of India.  In return for its hard labour it gets only some dry grass and water for its sustenance.  It seems to function on the principle "Maximum work minimum profit."  Thee is no ego or egocentric desires polluting its work.  No kartrtva bhavana doership or bhoktrtva bhavana enjoyership attitude at all.  Its activities are not driven by desires.  Neither does it crave for the fruits of its actions.  It plays its role without worries of the past and anxieties of the future.  It merely does what it ought to do in life.  That is the highest principle of action, the best code of living.  The ancient Hindus recognised this loftly principle in the life of a bull.  They tried to emulate it in all their activities.  They invoked the sacrificial spirit of the bull in their own lives.  They worshipped the bull.

       The head of the bull is turned towards the shrine in the temple.  This indicates that the bull's actions are dedicated to God, an absence of ego and egocentric desires.  By worshipping the bull, the Hindu invokes its spirit of dedication to higher values and service to fellow-beings.  That is the spirit of karma yoga, the path of action.

       Lord Krishna refers to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita as a Bharatarsabha.  It literally means "bull among the Bharatas".  Today people all over the world seem to follow the principle of "minimum work maximum profit".  There is a need to change the basic attitude towards work, to imbibe the spirit of sacrifice and service, to graft the principle of "maximum work minimum profit" in their day-to-day living.  To be a bull in a society!

In Indian Culture...Why do we worship cow?

       The cow is also considered a sacred animal, revered and worshipped by Hindus.  Again you find in the cow a spirit of true sacrifice and service.  The cow also follows the great principle of life based on the attitude of giving.  It gives wholesome milk to the society.  Milk is a universal food consumed by one and all: the new-born, child, youth, middle-aged, old, invalid and healthy.  The cow gives something valuable to society and takes hardly anything in return.

       The cow-worshippers are only trying to imbibe this great quality the attitude of 'giving' into their own lives. If the attitude of  'taking' prevails in a society its members develop selfish demands and desires. Consequently there is struggle, stress and strain in that society.  Let their attitude change to giving, their demands and desires drop their selfishness.  Harmony, peace and happiness reign in that very same society. The dignity of human race is founded on the principle of giving.  

       Victor Hugo summaries an ideal life in one simple sentence:  

Life is to give, not to take.  

       The ancient Hindu tried to instill this high principle in their own lives.  For this reason the cow was considered sacred.  Unfortunately this principle is lost and people worship the body of the cow fanatically.  

       A fuller understanding of the lofty principles the cow and the bull live by would usher humanity to a more meaningful, purposeful life.

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Source: Excerpts from the book on "The Symbolism of  Hindu Gods and Rituals" by Swami A Parthasarathy.

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You asked about SRI AUROBINDO - 25 Answers

1]  Who was Sri Aurobindo?

       Sri Aurobindo was a poet, a writer, a scholar, a revolutionary thinker, a seer, a philosopher, a nationalist, a creator of an age, a rishi and a yogi.  He carried the world in his heart.  The more you try to understand him the more you realize that it is difficult task to describe him in words.

Sri Aurobindo with his parents, brothers and sister at London (Sri Aurobindo is seated in the centre)

He was born in Calcutta, India on August 15, 1872 at 4.52 a.m. in the Brahmamuhurta -- the hour of God. He was the third son of Dr.Krishna Dhan Ghose and Swarnalatha.  He left his body at 1.26 a.m. on December 5, 1950 in Pondicherry.  The body remained charged with Supramental Light for 111 hours without showing any signs of decomposition.

       Aravind means Lotus (pronounced Aurobindo in Bengal).  Sri means "Glory of the Divine" in the tradition of India.

Aurobindo seated with his brother Benoy Bhushan and Manmohan

2]  I would like to know more about his early years.

       Looking at Aurobindo's photo taken when he was very young, the Mother Said that his inner being was on the surface and he knew nothing of the world.  Seekers spend their lifetime to reach this stage.

       When he was five years old he, along with his brothers Benoy Bhushan and Manmohan, went to study at Darjeeling where most of the students were English and the teachers were Irish nuns.  On vacations, they stayed with their parents and their grandfather rishi Raj Narayan at Deoghar.  Once, during this period when Aurobindo was lying down at his place, he saw a great darkness rushing down into him and enveloping the whole world.  This was tamas - inertia.  It left him only when he returned from England after completing his studies.

       Aurobindo's father who was educated in England wanted his children to have education abroad.  Not only that, he wanted them to learn English customs and culture.  He wanted his sons to be away from everything Indian.  In 1879, when Suri Aurbindo was only seven, he and his brothers Benoy Bhushan and Manmohan were taken to England by their father and mother.  For fourteen years Aurobindo and his brothers studied there.  So, young Aurobindo grew up in a surrounding totally foreign to his motherland; he did not know his mother tongue Bengali.

       The boys were left with an English couple, Rev. Drewett and his wife, at Manchester.  The Drewetts taught Aurobindo Latin, English and History in addition to Geography, Arithmetic and French at their home.

Sri Aurobindo at age 11 as a student in England (1883)

       At the age of eleven, Aurobindo felt that there was a great upheaval about to take place in the world and he was going to play an important role in it.

       Young Aurobindo read Shakespeare, Keats, Shelley and the Bible by himself.  He also wrote verse.  When the Drewetts moved out of Manchester, the brothers stayed with Mr. Drewett's mother.  AT St. Paul's School he learned Greek too.  They again changed their place of stay; while Benoy and Aurobindo moved to a new residence, Manmohan shifted into lodgings.

       The remittances sent by Dr. Ghose suddenly became irregular.  A phase of suffering and poverty was experienced.  Aurobindo had only a slice or two of bread, and butter with a cup of tea in the morning and only a penny saveloy (a kind of sausage) in the evenings.  There was no dinner for two years.  There was no winter coat to protect from London's winter.  There was no bedroom or heating.

       From September 1884 to December 1889, Aurobindo studied at St. Paul's.  He distinguished himself for his mastery of the classics and proficiency in literature and history.  Aurobindo had learned and mastered various languages:  Italian, German, French, English, Latin and Greek.  He read English poetry, literature and fiction extensively.  He won several prizes and scholarships.  Aurobindo read again and again Shelley's "The Revolt of Islam."  It was his great favourite.  He felt at young age and he would dedicate himself and participate in the world change. 

Sri Aurobindo as a student of King’s college Cambridge – 1890-92.

       In 1890, at the age of 18, Aurobindo was admitted to Cambridge.  There he studied the classics.  He came out with flying colors in exams.  Oscar Browning was the examiner and was wonderstruck at Aurobindo's papers.  He commented that he never came across such excellent papers and essay.

       At first, Aurobindo's father wanted him to apply for the Indian Civil Service (ICS).  Aurobindo fared brilliantly in the exams here too.  Later, however, the father who all along was anxious to keep his three sons under the influence of British culture, now began to send news-cuttings of atrocities committed by the British on Indians.  Aurobindo, therefore, looked for an opportunity to disqualify himself from the ICS exams which, if passed, would make him serve the British Government.

      Aurobindo now began to learn his mother tongue Bengali and joined secret society romantically called "Lotus and Dagger."  The members of this society took an oath for the freedom of India.

       If Aurobindo had completed ICS, he would have had to serve the British, which he did not wish to. So he intentionally disqualified himself from passing by not appearing for the horse-riding test was only a minor lapse.  Aurobindo did not appear for the riding test even though he was given a second chance.

       The Gaekwad, ruler of Baroda, who happened to be in London, offered a job to Aurobindo at a salary of Rs.200 per month.  This was considered good at that time.

       At the age of twenty-one, Aurobindo sailed back to India.  Even though he stayed in England for 14 years and loved its literature, he had no attachment to the country.  He had fought against the British Government, but he had no rancor towards the British people.

In "Envoi" he wrote...

"Me from her lotus heaven Saraswati
Has called to regions of eternal snow
And ganges upon whose shores
the flowers of Eden blow."

Sri Aurobindo after his arrival at Apollo Bunder, Bombay.

       Aurobindo returned to India on February 6, 1893.  The moment he landed at Apollo Bunder in Bombay and as his feet touched the Indian soil, a vast calm and peace descended upon him.  Unfortunately, his father died hearing that the ship in which his favorite son Aurobindo was to have sailed had sunk; however, it was wrong information given by the shipping company since Aurobindo somehow did not sail by it.

Sri Aurobindo at Baroda in 1908 after the Surat Congress

(Until Krishna consciousness entered his body on November 24, 1926, we refer to him simply as Aurobindo, not as Sri aurobindo)

Sri Aurobindo 1918-1920

3.  Who was his father?

       Dr. Krishna Dhan Ghose.  He was a selfless, kind and too generous a man.  He was not a religious man, but a man of great intellect - impulsive, yet gentle at heart.

4.  Did he ever complain about being away from home in childhood?

       No, not at all.  In fact, he never complained about anything at any time.

5.  So he never, complained about his father?

       No, never.  In fact he loved his father very much.  In his whole life time he never complained against anyone or anything.  He never made any demands or claimed anything.  The Mother has said that he was the only humble man she ever met.

6.  Who is The Mother we talk of?  When did she meet Sri Aurobindo?  Why was she called The Mother?

To answer this question could take volumes; however, here is the brief answer to it:

       The Mother was a collaborator of Sri Aurobindo.  Her name was Mirra Alfassa.  She was French by birth.  Since her childhood she had had spiritual experiences.  She had spiritual and occult powers from birth which she mastered herself.  Madam Theon, a great occultist, was her good friend.

       The Mother used to see Sri Aurobindo in her visions even though she had never met him or even heard of him.  She drew the portrait of this face whom she called 'Krishna'.  She knew that she would meet him someday somewhere.

       She came to India accompanying her husband Paul Richard to Pondicherry.  When she met Sri Aurobindo, she at once recognized that it was he whom she used to see in her visions.  At first, Sri Aurobindo used to call her M.  Later, after November 24, 1926, when he withdrew from his daily meetings, he handed over the charge of the Ashram to her.  From that time onwards she was known as The Mother. She looked after spiritual progress and material needs of the Ashramites.

       The Mother left Her body on November 17, 1973.

7.  What does Ashram mean?

       Literally, ashram means a place of refuge.  Sri Aurobindo Ashram is however more than a place of retreat; it is a laboratory where seekers from around the world are staying collectively to live a life dedicated to seeking the Divine.  Each individual there represents a different personality working out his nature towards transformation.

Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry.

8.  Where is Sri Aurobindo Ahram?

      In Pondicherry, India near Chennai.

9.  Which were the places where he stayed on return from England?

       After studying in England from 1879 to 1893, he returned to India and stayed in Baroda from 1893 to 1906.  This was his period of preparation -- of teaching and serving the Gaekwad of Baroda.  He worked in the Settlement and Revenue Department and in secretariat work for the Maharaja.  Later, he worked as Professor of English and Vice-Principal at the Baroda College.  During this period, he wrote much of the poetry to be published later.  He taught himself various modern Indian Languages like Bengali, Gujarati and Marathi.  He also taught himself Sanskrit.  during his stay in Baroda, he got married to Mrinalini.

       The stay at Baroda was a period of literary activity - of turning towards yoga and silent political activity.  (Being in service, he was barred from political activity.

       The partition of Bengal led to agitation in 1905.  This gave him opportunity to resign his job and plunge in the political movement.  It was in 1906 that he bade adieu to Baroda and proceeded to take a new assignment as a Principal of Bengal National College that was just opened.

Sri Aurobindo in Baroda in 1906

       From 1906 to 1910 he stayed at Calcutta.  This was a phase of political activity.  It was also at this time that he had his Nirvana experience.  He was arrested, a jailed and released during this period.  He was the first Indian politician to have the courage to ask for complete independence for India, and this he wrote again and again in Bande Mataram.  Sri Aurobindo wanted to push the whole nation into an intense and organized political activity.  He wanted the Congress to be an instrument of revolutionary action, not just a center of timid constitutional action which only talkd and talked and passed tame resolutions!

Sri Aurobindo (seated centre) presiding Bal Gangadhar Tilak (speaking) at the Indian National Congress at Surat 1907

       A new spirit was created in India.  The nation was aflame with cries of Bande Mataram.  Sri Aurobindo always preferred to remain and act or lead from behind the scene.  Sri Aurobindo said, "History seldom records the things that were decisive but took place behind the vehil; it records the show in front of the curtain."

Sri Aurobindo in Alipore Jail 1908

       When the Government prosecuted him as the editor of Bande Mataram, the people came to know about him more and more.  He was acquitted for lack of evidence but by now he had ad become the leader of the Nationalist party.  He addressed  large meetings all over the country.  He was busy writing fiery articles and editorials every day and awakening the whole country to cry for freedom.  Yet something in him was leading him more and more into spiritual life.  He began to take a serious interest in Yoga.  The needed the power to free his motherland that he loved so clearly.  He states in a lighter vein, "mine was a side door entry into the spiritual life" and about his life he often said, "it has not been on the surface for men to see.

       After a brief stay at Chandernagore, he proceeded to Pondicherry.  The 40 years at Pondicherry were wholly devoted to Yoga.  He cut off all connections with political activities but took a keen interest in worldly events.

10.  After all the spiritual experiences from childhood, why did he take interest in politics?

       According to Sri Aurobindo the spiritual Guru of the world is India.  Hence, freedom to India, was the first step.  For this, his involvement, guidance and action were imperative.

       To Sri Aurobindo India was not a peace of earth but a Divine Mother.  Who would like to see his mother in chains?  He worked ceaselessly for the freedom of India by participating in political activities.  This continued until he got an Adesh -- a command from above--the freedom for India was only a matter of time.  He heard this Adesh of Lord Sri Krishna clearly stating that Lord Krishna had taken over the work of freeing India and that India would surely be free.  Sri Aurobindo, from that moment, devoted all his time to Yoga, completely disassociating himself from politics.

Sri Aurobindo with his wife Mrinalini Devi in Nainital (1901)

11.  Did his wife Mrinalini participate in his political activities?

       No.  She was very devoted to him but it was not in her fate to be by the side of her husband Sri Aurobindo.  Circumstances and distance always kept her away.  She was much younger than him.  She waited for his permission to come to Pondicherry.  There were restrictions for travelling also.  When Sri Aurobindo agreed that she could come to Pondicherry, she began her journey.  But before she could reach Pondicherry to meet her husband she fell ill during the journey and died of influenza.

       Earlier, she had taken diksha (spiritual initiation) from the Holy Mother --the wife of Sri Ramakrishna-- and had studied the complete works of Swami Vivekananda.  She hardly stayed with her husband Sri Aurobindo.  She spent her time staying at her father's house.

       Sri Aurobindo had written to her that he had three madnesses.  First, all his knowledge  genius and material possessions were God's.  These had to be returned to God after providing for the family.  Second, he wanted to see God.  He had realized that what the Hindu religion had said was true.  Third, he looked upon his country as the Mother.  He worshiped Her as the Mother.  He asked what a son would do if a demon sat on his mother and started sucking her blood:

"Would he quietly sit down to his dinner, amuse himself with his wife and children, or would he rush out to deliver his mother?  I know I have the strength to deliver this fallen race.  It is not physical strength...but the strength of knowledge...this feeling is not new in me, it is not of today.  I was born with it, it is my very marrow.  God sent me to Earth to accomplish this great mission."

One cannot help but quote Sri Aurobindo himself.

12.  How about letting us know about Sri Aurobindo's spiritual experiences?  Weren't they many and interesting?

       We would be surprised if such questions were not asked!  Well, as long as one takes inspiration from spiritual experiences of Avatars, Yogis and Saints, it is all right; otherwise, the real purpose of getting knowledge is overlooked.

       We know of his experience when he was five years old and also of his experiencing great calm when his foot touched the Indian soil on return from England.  Of the experiences he must have had, we know of only some.  It was not in his nature to talk much or publicize.  He communicated by silence and by writing letters to disciples and articles in journals of which he was editor.  Despite the limitations of our understanding and of the descriptive power of words, we will outline some of his experiences as follows:

       Once,  while travelling in a carriage in Baroda, he noticed that there was a possibility of an accident.  He willed and a Divine being of light emerged from within him to prevent the accident.  This was his first experience of the Divinity within himself.

       On a visit to Kashmir, when walking on the ridge of Takhn-i Suleman-the hill of Shankaracharya-- he had a unique experience.  He found himself lost in a Vastitude of Nature and felt taken up by the Infinite.

       On another occasion, Sri Aurobindo visited a temple of Kali on the bank of the river Narmada.  With his Europeanized-mind, he had no faith in image-worship and hardly believed in the presence of God. However, when he looked at the image of Kali he saw the living presence there.  For the first time, he believed in the presence of God.

       He never had a guru but a Maratha Yogi by the name Lele once asked him to "see" thoughts entering from outside.  He asked Sri Aurobindo to fling the thoughts out.  Sri Aurobindo achieved this in just three days.  This experience of Eternal Silence is the Nirvana stage which remained with him forever.  Nirvana became for him a settled fact but he went beyond it.

       While in jail he heard (for a fortnight) the spirit of Swami Vivekananda who gave him a clue on a very important spiritual matter.  He also heard the voice of Lord Sri Krishna and he even saw Sri Krishna in the worst criminals around him--in the warden, in the judge and in everything around him.  This was the experience of seeing the Divine in everyone and everything.

      Once, while he was working in the office of the periodical that he edited (Karmayogin) he heard a clear command form above--an Adesh--to go to Chandernagore.  Later at Chandernagore, he heard another command to go to Pondicherry, where he stayed for 40 years.

      We would like to narrate a coupel of The Mothers' experience as well:

      Once at Pondicherry The Mother saw an object in the sky.  She was told that it was a flying saucer.  She said that the other beings can exist besides us and they can be very intelligence.  However, our depiction of the alien beings' appearance is not correct.  They may not look like what we imagine them to be.

       Another experience was in October 1965 at Pondicherry, when she saw a golden white being associated with the comet Jupiter.  (Jupiter was visible from earth at that time).  The young being was dancing with joy while spreading a dense jelly like substance in the Earth's atmosphere to help the transformation of the Earth.

Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry (1915-18)

13.  What is his concept of the world?

       According to Sri Aurobindo the world is created for Divine manifestation of Perfection in all aspects and forms--that is, Divine Knowledge, Divine Power, Divine Love, Divine Light and Divine Beauty.  It was meant to be a Divine creation, but at present, it is a perverted and obscure expression of the way the Divine wanted it to be.  His concept of the world was distinct from the Buddhist, Shankara and Vedantic views.

       The Buddhist and the Shankara view is that the only way to escape from the world into Non-Existence, Nothingness or Non-Manifestation and to dissolve into it as the world is full of suffering and illusion.  Ignorance is the cause of all suffering so why not get out of the world.

       The Vedantic view is that the world is essentially Divine.  The Divine is everywhere but the expression of the world in its exterior form is perverted, distorted, obscure and ignorant.  The only way is to escape into the Divine within and remain fixed there leaving the world as it is.  The world will not change.  It will always remain ignorant and unconscious.

Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry (1950)

14.  Any prophesies about India?

       Prophesies!!!  Long before he left his body Sri Aurobindo had several powers, but he worked around the clock for the Supramental.  The Mother and Sri Aurobindo saw the play of forces behind the world events and leaders.

       Sri Aurobindo saw what was behind Hitler.  It was a force of darkness (Asura).  Therfore, he backed the allies during the World War inspite of his opposition to the British rule of India.  He and The Mother used their Yogic powers for the fall of Hitler.  Had Hitler succeeded, the entire human race would have been subjected to slavery in a concentration camp.  The creation would then have had to be dissolved again by the Divine.  That would have meant a repetition.

Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry (1950)

       He saw the possibility of China overrunning Tibet and posing threat to India.  The Korean crisis about which he had written in 1950 was shown in print to President Kennedy.  The President wondered how someone meditating so far away could know 10 years ahead what was to happen.  He thought there was a typing mistake.  (This is a inspite of the fact that all the details were published years before the Korean crisis and Sri Aurobindo had left his body 10 years before the North Korean crisis.)

       When India was partitioned Sri Aurobindo said without hesitation that India would be one again.  How the Divine works out details is not for the human mind to even imagine.

       Sri Aurobindo saw, more than 50 years ago, the collapse of Communism.

       According to Sri Aurobindo, India is the Guru of the world, but it has to rise to the occasion.  India still exists because of her spiritual strength from the ages.  We quote Sri Aurobindo:

"India of the ages is not dead nor has she spoken her last creative world; she lives and ha still something to do for herself and the human peoples.  And that which must seek now to awake is not an anglicised oriented people, docile pupil of the West and doomed to repeat the cycle of the accident's success and failure, but still the ancient immemorable Shakthi recovering her deepest self, lifting her head higher towards the supreme source of light and strength and turning to discover the complete meaning and a vaster form of her Dharma."

15.  Will the present civilization come to an end as predicted by some?

       We quote from a letter Sri Aurobindo wrote in September, 1945:

"About the present human civilization.  It is not this which has to be saved; it is the world that has to be saved and that surely will be done, though it may not be so easily or so soon as some wish or imagine, or in the way that they imagine.  The present must surely change, but whether by destruction or a new construction on the basis of a greater Truth, is the issue.  The MOTHER has left the question hanging and I can only do the same."

16.  What is his Yoga called?

       Integral Yoga or Poorna Yoga.

17.  Why Integral?

       Because His Yoga is a synthesis of all the old Yogas taken as a base.  His Yoga starts where the others end.

18.  What is so different about Integral Yoga?

       If one has to use the word different, it is different in that it does not reject life.

       All old Yogas and old systems insist on rejecting the life as it is and escape from life into nothingness or to merge in the Divine.  Sri Aurobindo's Yoga has a different purpose.  To rise out of the ordinary consciousness into the Divine Consciousness.  To bring the Supramental power into the mind, life and body.  Not to reject mind, life and bod, but to transform them.  To manifest Divine in matter.

1]       The first stage is of Psychicisation.  The external life is not neglected or rejected but one acts on it to bring about the psychicisation i.e. bring the psychic--the divine essence in each being--to the front and to make the being ready for transformation and also for union with the Divine Knowledge, Will and Love.

2]       The second stage is of Spiritualisation.  To universalize the being on all planes.  To be aware of the cosmic being and cosmic forces in union with the Divine on all planes, up to the Overmind.

3]      The third stage is of Supramentalisation.  To come into contact with the transcendent Divine beyond Overmind through Supermind.  To realize the Dynamic Divine truth ad its descent for the transformation of the earth nature.  To Supramentalise the consciousness and the nature are the aim and objects of Sri Aurobindo's Yoga.

       Patanjali speaks of suppression of the movement of the mind in Yogasutras (Chitta Vritti Nirodha).  The Vedanta speaks of killing of the mind (Manonnasha).  The Buddhists speak of killing of the mind.  Sri Aurobindo's Yoga shows the way of uplifting of the mind, not killing the mind i.e., uplifting reason to super reason.  Transcending from mind to higher mind, illumined mind, intuitive mind, Overmind and Supermind.  Even in Katha Upanishad they speak of cutting the knot of teh heart, but Sri Aurobindo suggests loosening of the knot.  Therein lies the difference between traditional Yogas and Sri Aurobindo's Yoga.

19.  Did he achieve transformation?

       His body remained luminous for 111 hours after he left it of his own free will in 1950.  The Supramental force which he wanted to bring down on earth descended on February 29,1956.  His work continues to pave the way for the first Supramental body in which he will take birth.  The local transformation of the physical body is yet to be achieved.  Lack of receptivity of the earth consciousness and humanity has delayed the work which is now progressing rapidly.  All that he has promised will be realized.

       He was given the option to have his bod transformed, leaving the rest of humanity as it is, or to sacrifice his body for the sake of humanity.  He decided to leave his body for humanity.

20.  Why do you say he left his body?

       Avataras and Yogis are not limited by the laws of the physical sciences.  Besides, Sri Aurobindo had a galaxy of powers and siddhis.  Had he so desired he could have easily achieved his individual transformation for a Supramental body.  He opted to withdraw for the sake of the humanity.  Sri Aurobindo is a permanent Avatar of the Supreme.  A portion of the Supreme who with The Mother has been active since the birth of this creation to assist in the manifestation of the Divine.  At present, he is active in the subtle physical world.

21.  What is the subtle physical world?

       There are many worlds invisible and unknown to us of which the subtle physical world is nearest to our physical world.  Sri Aurobindo is very much active there taking great interest in world events and helping humanity in evolution.  One can see him if one has deep peace and ardent aspiration.  Sri Aurobindo and his forces are helping seekers of all faiths and even those who have not known him.

22.  I note that his body became luminous and golden after he left it, but what about his miracles?

       Miracles!  We all like miracles a lot!.  Now, what is a miracle?  Something that defies the physical and other sciences.  What cannot be proved or justified by science and reason is called a miracle.  Even at human level there are miracles every moment but we only do not recognize them.  Sri Aurobindo never gave importance or publicity to miracles.  To him all that is miraculous is a natural phenomenon.  There was a time when the Overmind power had descended and miracles took place all around him.  The Mother went to him observing this happening.  He observed that this was the power of the gods--the Overmind.  If they retained it, the world would rush to them and a new religion would be started.  That was not Sri Aurobindo's goal. What mattered was the Supramental and that was beyond the Overmind.  The Mother then immediately dispersed this power.

23.  Did he transfer his powers to The Mother or anyone next in line like Sri Ramakrishna did to Swami Vivekananda?

       Sri Aurobindo and The Mother valued each aspect of the great Indian Tradition in Yoga, but they looked beyond the horizons of traditions.  They have said that they both will come in Supramental bodies.  There is nothing like next in line or higher and lower in the sadhaks who have achieved great heights.  Their work continues as before in their physical absence.  Their force is ever active.  One needs to be sincere and have great patience to be worthy of being his disciple.  As far back as the 1920s, several sadhaks had gone beyond Nirvana and yet they lived as sadhaks--Sri Aurobindo's humble disciples.

The Mother in Mahasamadhi in 1973

24.
a] Why is Sri Aurobindo's Yoga only for the patient and the sincere?
b] What is so difficult about his Yoga?
c] What are the guidelines for those who want to pursue this path of Integral Yoga?
d] What should one be equipped with?  Does one have to go to the Ashram to become a disciple?
e] Does one have to have to be initiated, read, pray, or do Japa of a particular Mantra?
f] Does one have to learn any Kriya or technique?
g] Can one do his yoga through He and The Mother are not present in their bodies?

Good question.  It could not have been longer.

a]       First, here is a powerful mantra:  "Mother guide me in my sadhana, and protect me always."

      And why patience needed?  Because the path is long and the road is bumpy; yet the progress is endless.  A sincere seeker is never discouraged.  Sincerity is a great virtue.  Armed with sincerity and faith one makes a steady progress.

b]      When one is simple at heart, and has faith, patience and will, everything becomes a joyful play of consciousness   If one surrenders to the Shakti, She will take over the charge of the Sadhana, and pour Her Grace.

c]      The method of Aspiration, Rejection and Surrender in Sri Aurobindo's Yoga has to be pursued with joy and love.

d]       One may go to the Ashram or one may not.  It is not compulsory.  One can do yoga anywhere, anything.  There is no ceremony or traditional--diksha.  One benefits by reading and praying.  All one can chant the name of Sri Aurobindo or the Mother as a mantra.

f]  There is nothing like any special Kriya or ceremony in Sri Aurobindo's Yoga.

g]  As regards to Sri Aurobindo and The Mother not being present in their bodies, their absence is never felt. Their force is ever active.

       Never to be a theoretician, logician, academician, ceremonialist or make Sri Aurobindo's Yoga or teaching a religion but to set an example simply by putting in practice his guidance, and using common sense in practical situations.  That makes one worthy of being called a disciple of Sri Aurobindo.

25]  Did The Mother communicate with Sri Aurobindo after he left his body?

       We can quote one inner communication from Sri Aurobindo to Mother on june 6, 1967; seventeen years after Sri Aurobindo left his body:

"All the countries live in falsehood.  If only one country stood courageously for truth, the world might be saved."

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Source: Excerpts from the book on "You asked about SRI AUROBINDO 25 Answers" written by Arun Amin and Pavitra Amin.
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