What Makes a Nation Immortal? – Part 2
After outlining what is meant by the nation-soul, the author in this second part of the essay explains the meaning of a nation’s rebirth.
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The Little Clock Calendula, ‘Herb of the Sun’
The author reflects on her patient inner work which helped her experience a deeper harmony, and the endurance it took her to work through the challenges.
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Stick to the Practice and Let the Gratitude Flow
The author reflects on how sincerely persevering in one’s sādhanā becomes the key to allow the heart to experience a deeper gratitude and peace.
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A Deep, Intense, Constant and Total Gratitude
In addition to exploring Gratitude in a variety of hues, the issue also features pieces on the inner significance of Navaratri, the festival of Devi, and the cultural significance of Ramayana. Other highlights include a reflection on patriotism and leadership in the light of recent events in Afghanistan, and ‘The Real Gandhi’, an insightful essay approved by Sri Aurobindo.
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Gratitude, a Hue of the Essential Vibration of Love
In these passages from the Mother’s works, we find a rich variety of the various hues of the soul-quality that is gratitude. Gratitude that helps us connect with the Divine, that is a humble recognition of all that the Divine has done and is doing for us, that helps us cure our egoism, the movement that can bring us unalloyed joy.
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Grace and Gratitude – Words of the Mother
In these passages, the Mother guides us that in order to accept the Grace with a pure feeling of gratitude, one must have a certain inner humility which makes one recognise one’s helplessness without the Divine Grace. She also points out that for most people blows in life are needed to know to the very depths that there is no entity without the Divine Consciousness and the Grace.
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The Virtues – A Gratitude Story Told by the Mother
Through this delightful little story written by the Mother in French sometime between 1893 and 1912, we recognise how gratitude is generally the most neglected virtue.
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Morning Glory and the Varied Colours of Gratitude
In our flower-meditation series, Sheeba Naaz reflects on her own experience and a few other gratitude stories she has heard and witnessed around her. She reminds us that it is not really the happiness which makes us feel grateful but on the contrary it is gratefulness that makes us happy. The Mother’s ‘handkerchief’ story also finds a special place of honour in this beautiful piece.
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The Grateful Beasts and the Ungrateful Man – A Story from the Panchatantra
An interesting fable from the Panchatantra which illustrates the spontaneous gratefulness of an animal which is often found missing in man.
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“I Had a Dream. . .” – See That Smile Behind the Whisper
A heartfelt reflection by Shiva Kumar which makes the reader feel grateful for witnessing through his words an experience of the Divine Friend whispering of Love and life as a means to seek that Love.
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The Absolutely Perfect, the Absolutely Humble Divine
In India, since millennia, modesty or humility has been considered the one of the most noble virtues, one that is the ornament of all virtues. In present times when self-promotion is not only an acceptable practice but has actually become a highly sophisticated skill that one must master if one wants to be ‘successful’, humility often takes a backseat. But if we step back for a moment and reflect carefully we will find that it is exactly in times like these that we must sincerely begin to examine for ourselves what is true humility. And more importantly, how it is related to our inner journeys, our growth as conscious individuals with an aspiration to grow inwardly and walk the path that takes us closer to our highest Self within. This issue is dedicated to exploring Humility as one of the Twelve Powers which the Mother spoke of as necessary for the full manifestation of Her Work.
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“True Humility is Humility Towards the Divine”
Selections from various writings and talks of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo are presented to help us understand the meaning of true humility, which is about constantly referring oneself to the Divine, placing all before the Lord, and having a living sense that one is nothing, can do nothing, understand nothing without the Divine. We also learn that excessive self-esteem and self-depreciation are both wrong attitudes when cultivating the quality of true humility.
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Sri Aurobindo on Outward Humility
In this interesting conversation of Sri Aurobindo with a small set of disciples, dated January 6, 1939, about methods of effacing the ego, Sri Aurobindo makes an important distinction between outward modesty and the true attitude of psychic humility which can help the sadhak get rid of the vital ego. As an added bonus, we also get a glimpse here of a facet of Sri Aurobindo’s outer personality during his political revolutionary days.
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Sri Aurobindo – The Perfect Gentleman (PART 1)
A most divine nobility and a perfectly sincere humility are the key highlights of the adorable personality of Sri Aurobindo which we see presented in this wonderful narration by Nirodbaran. This talk was given on June 12, 1970 at Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education and was first published in Mother India.
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Sri Aurobindo – The Perfect Gentleman (PART 2)
Reading Nirodbaran’s narration of the divine qualities of Sri Aurobindo’s personality, one is reminded of the description Sri Aurobindo once gave of an Aryan gentleman. India’s rebirth and regeneration requires such character, such nobility in our youth; our national education must work toward this goal.
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Of Woman, Man and Humility: Guidance from the Mother
While the world argues over feminism and post-feminism, social equality vs. essential difference etc., here we have in these words of the Mother such clear insight into the truth that must be at the basis of a true and authentic man-woman relationship.
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Ahankāra – Sri Aurobindo on Tamasic, Rajasic, Sattvic Ego and More
In this essay written originally in Bengali, Sri Aurobindo highlights the subtle but important difference between the tamasic, rajasic and sattvic ego. He reminds us that just as pride has ego, in the same way humility also has ego; just as strength has ego, in the same way weakness also has ego.
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True Humility – “A Living and Secret Contact with the Divine Consciousness”
In this delightful little essay, Nolini Kanta Gupta reminds us – “Humility, in order to be true and sincere, need not be sour and dour in appearance or go about in sack-cloth and ashes. On the contrary, it can be smiling and buoyant: and it is so, because it is at ease, knowing that things will be done—some things naturally will be undone too—quietly, quickly, if necessary, and inevitably, provided the right consciousness, the right will within is maintained.”
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Parable of the Snake and the Rat
The Mother reminds us that vigilance is indispensable for all true progress. As we try to grow in sincerity and practice true humility, it is important to stay vigilant and not get bloated with our own egos that we are some great sādhakas. The Mother is the path and the Mother is the goal, says Sri Aurobindo. It is always the Mother who does the sādhanā in us. Our effort is to ensure that we keep our inner temple clean and purified and for that sincerity, humility and vigilance are all very important. This little story told by Swami Sivananda emphasises how essential vigilance is for any aspirant; it also highlights what is fake humility and the necessity to be wary of that.
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Humility in a Dropseed
The Mother has given the tiny flowers of the dropseed prairie grass the spiritual significance: Humility. In this beautiful meditation on dropseed flower, the author highlights the truer meaning of humility with the help of a story and some guidance from Patanjali’s Yogasutra.
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