Sri Aurobindo is one of the most respected freedom fighters from Bengal and also a poet, philosopher, and yogi. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Posted August 17, 2013
by Jerry Alatalo
After discovering a very interesting short documentary based on the thinking of Indian yogi and spiritual writer Sri Aurobindo, and his spiritual collaborator Mirra Richard, who he called “Mother,” here is the film for your enjoyment.
Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950) was a leader in India’s independence movement and, after experiencing mystical and spiritual events while in prison after British authorities silenced him, turned to spirituality.
He is known for what he called integral yoga, of which he said, “The one aim of (my) yoga is an inner self-development by which each one who follows it can in time discover the One self in all and evolve a higher consciousness than the mental, a spiritual and supramental consciousness which will transform and divinize human nature.”
He is also known for writing “Savitri”- an epic poem of some 24,000 lines.
Meher Baba (Merwan Irani) as a boy in Pune, India in about 1910. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
August 6, 2013
by Jerry Alatalo
Meher Baba lived for 75 years. He was a mystic and spiritual master from India who came to claim he was the Avatar; God in human form.
Meher Baba was 19 years old when, riding his bicycle from university, he encountered Muslim saint Hazrat Babajan, a woman over 100 years old who Meher called one of the “five perfect masters” who are always present on Earth. This was the spiritual turning point for him in his life. He would go on to meet the remaining “five perfect masters” and begin his journey.
Meher Baba at age 31, because “everything has already been said”, did not speak for the remaining forty-five years of his life and passed away at age 76. He would communicate to others through an alphabet board where he pointed at letters, or through his own type of sign language. The fact that a human being would voluntarily refrain from speaking for forty-five years is quite remarkable.
Let me first thank Indrajit for recommending Meher Baba’s book “God Speaks“, the book that he is most well-known for. As one who is always interested in hearing recommendations from others for good books, documentaries, or other sources, Indrajit mentioned “God Speaks.” I have yet to buy and read the book, but it looks like one of those writings that allows the reader to learn more from every reading.
“God Speaks” is the Meher Baba book that most fully describes his metaphysical views about life. In it he explains that duality, the belief that there is separation between human beings, is illusory, and that the meaning of life is realizing the absolute oneness of God within all animate and inanimate beings, and all things. He said often, “You will find all the answers to your questions in God Speaks. Study the book thoroughly and absorb it.”
Through the book, Meher Baba explains how the soul goes through stages of consciousness from gaseous to stone to metal to insect to plant to animal and finally, to human. At the point of reaching the human stage consciousness is fully developed, but the person has yet to gain awareness of his or her consciousness. At this point the person begins a journey through countless lifetimes via reincarnation as male, female, rich, poor, strong, weak, criminal, lawful, attractive and ugly.
One exhausts all possible human identities and begins what Meher Baba called involution, where the soul returns to full awareness of divine force, the Creator, or God. There are steps, planes, or realms which the soul experiences. The first three planes are in the subtle or energetic world. Next comes the fourth plane, at the edge of entry to the mental world, where one risks destruction of consciousness through the wrong use of great power for personal desires.
The fifth and sixth planes are where the soul experiences an intimate relationship with God: these are the planes which have been travelled by the true saints. Here is where one’s “inner eye” sees Creator/God in everything and everyone.
The seventh plane (seventh heaven?) is where the soul experiences total freedom and the realization that, “I am God.” He or she realizes that the entire journey was an illusion, in order to fully awaken the soul.
Meher Baba claimed that he was the Avatar, the “highest status of God, where God becomes man and lives on Earth as God-man. Avatar is always one and the same; the eternal, indivisible, infinite one who manifests himself in the form of man as the Avatar, as the messiah, as the prophets, as the Buddha, as the ancient one, the highest of the high.”
He was against evangelizing and said, “I need no propaganda or publicity.” He told his followers to “Let your life itself be my message of love and truth to others… Spread my message of love and truth as far and wide as possible.”
Is it possible that each soul is on the journey to becoming an Avatar?
Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms.. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next.
This blog is devoted to legal, historical and human rights matters, in which issues of general concern are addressed freely and spontaneously. It is intended to further an informal exchange of views in the democratic spirit of freedom of opinion and respect for the opinions of others, in an effort to understand rather than condemn, to propose constructive solutions rather than grandstand. The perspective is both from inside and outside the box and the added value lies more in the questions than in the answers.
THE ONENESS of HUMANITY 