Reading Sri Aurobindo: Metaphysics, Ethics and Spirituality

Description

This book presents contemporary perspectives of scholars working on different aspects of the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo- the idea of evolution, integral yoga, the transformation of the individual, society and earth, theories of nation and human unity, philosophy of emotions and ethics of the environment. Contributors examine Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy, its close conceptual relationship to classical Indian philosophy and its relevance. It sheds light on how his philosophy deals with the twenty-first century's fundamental problems and offers possible solutions. The book brings out the modern debate in Western philosophy involving thinkers like Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida and Gilles Deleuze, and their predecessors, such as Martin Heidegger and Friedrich Nietzsche. This book is an exercise in comparative Philosophy,one that unpacks the mind of Sri Aurobindo in the context of Indian, European and Anglo-American philosophical discourse. It is of great relevance for a new generation of students, scholars of Indian philosophy, politics, religious studies and those interested in knowing the thought and practice of the twentieth-century Indian, thinker and yogi, Sri Aurobindo. Foreword Contents About the Editor Introduction: Reading Sri Aurobindo. Towards a Svaraj in Ideas 1 The Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo: Svaraj/Freedom in Ideas 2 Recasting the Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo in Mantra: Savitri as a Hymn of Affirmation 3 Countering Skepticism: Four Reflections on the Relevance of Sri Aurobindo for Our Times 4 Sri Aurobindo’s Philosophy and Practice: Eight Parts and Seventeen Essays References Part I Sri Aurobindo and the Idea of Evolution Sri Aurobindo’s Hindu Philosophy: Spiritual Evolution of Human Consciousness 1 Situating Sri Aurobindo: Intellectual Context in Western Philosophy 1.1 Greek Philosophy and Attitude of Life 1.2 The Problematic European Modernity 1.3 Sri Aurobindo’s Creative Evolution and Emergentism 2 Situating Sri Aurobindo: Intellectual Context in Indian Philosophy 2.1 Human Nature and Its Transformation: The Sāṃkhya Model 2.2 The Vedāntic Model of the Worldview 2.3 The Vedāntic Images of Man 3 The Tree-Model of the Evolution Process 3.1 Meaning and Characteristics of Absolute, Spirit, and the Principle of Integration 3.2 Sri Aurobindo’s Infra-rationality and the Methodology of Evolution 3.3 Psychological and Epistemological Stages of Evolution 4 Discovery of the Soul and Fivefold Stages of Development (Pañca-Kośa) 4.1 Sri Aurobindo’s Bhṛgu-Model of the Five Principles 4.2 The Inconscient Nature and the Evolutionary Movement of the Spirit 5 The Five Principles of the Lower Hemisphere 5.1 A Brief Account of the Double Process of Evolution 5.2 Three Types of ‘Transformation of Consciousness’ for an Aspirant 5.3 The Ascent of the Separative Mind to the Supermind References Man—Towards Its Self-Transcendence—In the Light of Sri Aurobindo References Boons of Nachiketas and Savitri 1 The Story and the Legend 2 The Essential Vision 3 Methodology of Granting Boons 4 A Comparison Between Nachiketas and Maitreyi 5 The Four Boons Refused by Savitri 6 Ultimately it is only One Boon 7 The Concept of Immortality 8 Conclusion References Part II Sri Aurobindo: On Integral Yoga Evolution with Harmony: Integral Yoga and Its Transformational Potential in the Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo 1 Introduction 2 Aurobindo’s Early Life and the Centrality of the ‘Spiritual’ 3 Aurobindo’s Integral Yoga and the Evolution of ‘Self’ Through Triple Transformation 4 ‘Evolution with Harmony’ as the Central Tenet of Integral Yoga 4.1 Harmonizing the Temporal with the Transcendental 4.2 Harmonizing the individual’s Liberation with Collective Experience 4.3 Harmonizing the Different Paths of the Yoga 5 Conclusion References Sri Aurobindo as Archetypal Guru: Toward a Theology of Liberation Through Integral Yoga 1 Guru Tradition: The Vedic Priests as Guru 2 Guru as the Enlightened 3 Guru as the Vision of Oneness 4 Guru as the Delivering Self 5 Guru Consciousness as Brahma Cetana 6 Upanishads as the Source of Guru Tradition 7 Self-Knowledge and Guru Tradition 8 Distinguishing Qualities of a Guru 9 Guru: A Post-upanishadic Examination 10 Import of Guru: Tapas and Nyasa 11 Aurobindo: An Archetypal Guru 12 By Way of a Conclusion References Part III Situating Sri Aurobindo: Modernity and Post-Modernity Postmodernism and Sri Aurobindo 1 Postmodernity 2 Cultural Postmodernism 3 Philosophical Postmodernism 4 Nietzsche 5 Martin Heidegger 6 Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida 7 Features of Philosophical Postmodernism 8 Gilles Deleuze 9 Sri Aurobindo 10 The Ideal of Human Unity 11 The Human Cycle 12 Integral Yoga 13 Auroville References Harmonies of Light: Walking with Rohith Vemula and Sri Aurobindo 1 Introduction 2 The Cosmic Trajectory: The Puzzle and the Hidden Plan 3 Social Evolution: The Unfolding of the Symbol Dawns 3.1 Sri Aurobindo and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on the Ideal Society 4 Evolution of Political Forms: Moving Towards Spiritual Anarchy 4.1 The Evolution of Political Formations 4.2 Is the Idea of the State Adequate 4.3 Future Political Forms and a Living Spiritual Religion of Humanity Appendix References Part IV Sri Aurobindo: On the Nation, the State and the Ideal of Human Unity Understanding Aurobindo’s Concept of Nationalism: An Integral Philosophy or a Religious Faith? References Sri Aurobindo and the Idea of Human Unity References Nation-Soul, State and Unity: Sri Aurobindo and Rabindranath Tagore on the Religion of Humanity 1 Sri Aurobindo: The Organized State and Human Unity 1.1 Sri Aurobindo: On Unity and Uniformity 1.2 Sri Aurobindo: On the Spiritual Religion of Humanity 2 Tagore: On the Relationship Between Nation-States and the Religion of Man 2.1 Tagore: On the Nation-State and Cosmopolitanism 2.2 Tagore: On Human Unity and the Religion of Man 3 Sri Aurobindo and Rabindranath Tagore: In Conclusion References Part V Sri Aurobindo: Philosophy and Practice Teaching Sri Aurobindo: The Descent of Consciousness 1 Sri Aurobindo: Revolution of the Spirit 2 Social, Educational, and Cultural Change in America 3 Full Circle: Personal Change and Social Change References Rethinking and Transforming Language, Knowledge, Self, Society and State and the Calling of Alternative Planetary Futures: Walking and Meditating with Sri Aurobindo 1 Introduction and Invitation 2 Rethinking Language 3 Rethinking Knowledge 4 Rethinking Self, Society and the State: With and Beyond the Person Idea and the State Idea 5 Rethinking and Transforming Self, Society and the State: The Call of Fraternity 6 Ideals of Human Unity and Alternative Planetary Futures References Part VI Sri Aurobindo: On Emotions Sri Aurobindo on the Transformation of Emotions: Reflections on Divine Love and Absolute Devotion 1 Introduction References Part VII Sri Aurobindo: Towards an Ethics of the Environment Environmental Consciousness and Sri Aurobindo: Learnings for the Present 1 Introduction 2 Sri Aurobindo: The Idea of Consciousness 3 Evolution and Involution 4 Spiritual Consciousness and Awareness 5 Conclusion References Spiritualistic Ecologism in the Evolutionary Ideologies of Sri Aurobindo 1 Introduction 2 The Aesthetics of Nature 3 Consciousness of Modernity 4 Vedas and a Devotion to Nature 5 Conclusion References Part VIII Sri Aurobindo: On Philosophical Agnosticism Sri Aurobindo, Agnosticism, and the Unknowable 1 Aurobindo and Nineteenth-Century European Agnosticism 2 Theism, Agnosticism, and the Unknowable in Aurobindo’s Early Writings 3 Aurobindo’s Later Ideas on Agnosticism, Atheism, and the Unknowable 4 Devotion and Knowledge, Gnosis and Agnosticism References