How does one choose between the 'good' and the 'pleasant'? Is Action the key to liberation, or is it Inaction?Can one Enjoy yet be Detached? What can transform Human Evil? Is Mind capable of Giving answers? and so on.. The Range is Vast - The reflection touch upon our daily existence - from shopping for clothes to handling issue of marriage, career, finance, and matters pertaining to inner and higher life, sadhana, living from a consciousness higher than mind.

2. 2

3. the awakening ray
v.16, issue 4 : jul-aug’2012
• Editorial
Chhaya S Chaudhry
6
Akanksha Verma, Manu Arya,
Stefan Stautner & a Student
8
• In Search (a poem)
Shibani Dara
12
• When does
Learning stop?
Akanksha Verma, Rajesh Menon,
Sergio Zenere & a Student
13
• I reflect ...
EDITOR
Ameeta Mehra
CO-EDITOR
Anuradha
PRINTED & PUBLISHED BY
Anuradha Agrawal
OWNER
Ameeta Mehra
on behalf of The Gnostic Centre
PRINTING PRESS
Gokul Offset Private Limited
D-159A, Okhla Phase 1
New Delhi-20
PLACE OF PUBLICATION
The Gnostic Centre
H-401 Som Vihar Apts.
Sangam Marg, New Delhi-22
5
• Can Mind provide
all answers?
THE TEAM
The Mother
• Simple Questions
of Life (a poem)
vol.16 issue 4
4
• The Awakening Ray
THE AWAKENING RAY
Anuradha
Seema Agrawal
17
• How to Choose
correctly?
Mukul Gulati, Mini Suresh Babu,
Bhargavi Pukkella & a Student
19
• Gratitude
Phalguni Freeman
22
• Why is it so difficult
to be Free?
Shibani Dara
23
• The Role of
Therapist in Healing
Matthew Rich, a Student
& Atul Goswami
27
• To Act or not to Act?
Mitesh Tank &
Chhaya S Chaudhry
30
31
• Events: Jul-Aug
• The Descent (a poem)
The views & thoughts expressed in
the articles are those of the authors
and therefore the editor shall bear no
responsibility for them.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust,
Pondicherry:
* All quotations from
Sri Aurobindo and The Mother
* Material (including photographs)
from the Ashram publications
* The Awakening Ray image
(artist: Krishnalal)
Monica Gupta
32
• Can one stay Detached
in Enjoyment?
A Student, Sameer Sharma,
& Atul Goswami
33
• Can Ahimsa work
in every situation?
Mini Suresh Babu, Bhargavi
Pukkella & Rajalakshmi Malhotra
35
• Ahimsa: An
Interfaith Perspective
Dr. AK Merchant
37
Picture Credits
31
Advertisements
38
3

4. Editorial
Dear Reader
Simple questions of life have answers hard to find...
Truly so?
Theroetically, perhaps not, for there is a collective wisdom over the ages, and India,
especially, is a storehouse of such wisdom.
But, it is the Practice that counts. And there, one begins with small steps. It takes time to
translate Wisdom into Action.
This issue of The Awakening Ray shares such small and simple steps taken by professionals
from diverse walks of life - as documented in their self-reflective responses in ICIS course
assignments.
How does one choose between the ‘good’ and the ‘pleasant’? Is Action the key to liberation,
or is it Inaction? Can one Enjoy yet be Detached? What can transform Human Evil? Is Mind
capable of giving answers? and so on...
The range is vast - the reflections touch upon our daily existence - from shopping for clothes
to handling issues of marriage, career, finance, and matters pertaining to inner and higher life,
sadhana, living from a consciousness higher than mind.
Discover your own life experiences woven in these... ...
✍ Anuradha
4

5. “A drop of practice is better than
an ocean of theories,
advices and good resolutions.”
The Mother
5

6. Simple Questions of Life
Simple Questions of life
Have complex answers we find
Transgress, transform
Be free, not bound
Dive deep within
Raise consciousness without
Don't hold, don't clasp
Don't cling, don't grasp
Create laughter and joy
Spread peace and bliss
Don't react or regret
Dissolve the ego and just be
Just you, just you
There is all around
You are infinite
You are limitless
Drop the web
Sink into the being
Don’t ask or tell
Just be just be
Soar into the silence
Seek all that is
Be infinite be free
Expand and grow
Be aware every moment
Live life and be free
Just live, just live
And find your ecstasy
No questions to answer
No answers to give
Just live, just live
Expand your ecstasy
✍ Chhaya S Chaudhry
6

7. 7

8. Can Mind provide all answers?
a few responses from ICIS students
“The best way to understand is always to rise high enough
in the consciousness to be able to unite all contradictory ideas
in a harmonious synthesis.”
The Mother
Giving up the Egoistic stance
The Mother says whenever there is a problem and you are seeking a solution or there is a
disagreement, one should not remain closed up in own thoughts and opinions but open up to
other’s point of view too and instead of fighting who has a better solution, a path breaking
and more creative idea should be formulated which incorporates both points of view in essence.
The kind of approach that fits here is “I am ok you are ok” approach crafted by Thomas A
Harris. What we need is a heart big enough to realize our mistakes and learn from them, a
heart big enough to feel gratitude for someone who showed us the right path. We should be
able to move on from petty quarreling and the naive disagreements which are nothing but
clever play of the ego. It is high time we let go of our antiquated ideas, customs, rituals and
tradition which cause hatred, fear, anxiety, distrust and judgment and soak ourselves in
appreciation of life and understand the interconnectedness, interdependence, unity and
compassion.
There is always an opportunity cost for every choice we have
made ever in our life, what cost we choose to pay in return of
what is an individual call.
If that individual call is linked with a broader picture, a choice which incorporates the
good for society, environment, other species or world as whole that would mean that we are
learning to be inhabitants of this planet in true sense. The Mother’s words can be contemplated
in the narrow sense in our daily lives too. The problem solving technique that we use today –
the fish bone or Pareto analysis which take a number of solutions for the root cause of a
problem – the need is to incorporate this attitude in our daily lives too, thinking about pros
and cons of every choice, every action we take in a sense that it becomes kinesthetic in us and
we always weigh them in the balance for broader good against sole personal gain.
‘Do you think the ordinary mental consciousness is able to give us a sure answer to our problems?’ - The
question forms an assignment in the ICIS online course: ‘Introduction to Integral Studies’, facilitated by Dr.
Monica Gupta. The students responded in different ways, alongwith reflection & application to oneself.
8

9. Personal anecdote
The problem that I can think of is not recent but dates to four years ago – the story of my
marriage. It is quite a Bollywood saga!
Two people in love decide to get married; inform parents. On both sides after a series of
initial confrontations and disagreements we get both sides to meet each other. Things go bad;
ego hassles between the two sides take toll on our daily lives, at work and strain our relationship.
To counter all this we decide to get married in court and inform the same to our parents. Both
sides reluctantly agree, one says go ahead and do it and reception date is finalized, on the other
hand other side tells us to wait and get married in their style only but at a future date. We
decide to go against this and get court married. This was our solution to put an end to all the
chaos that was affecting our daily lives.
Today after four years the things are alright with both of us at our individual places. I
am welcome at his place and vice-versa but a void that is created between the families lies there
staring at us never to be covered I guess. The opportunity cost of our marriage with each other
was the distance between the two families. Things are progressing but at a very slow rate; we
hope that things improve but the wait is longer than expected.
Looking back we can say that our reaction in haste costed the union of two families.
Had we been more patient and tried to come with a creative idea to involve the essential
points of both sides, things would have been at a better place. We don’t regret marrying each
other, neither do our families, but yes, the process or the ‘how’ could have been better.
This is what The Mother is trying to explain: to look at the full view of the problem
and with a better understanding we need to rise up from our egoistic stances and must be able
to look at everyone’s point of view and take it as a challenge to synthesize all and come up
with a creative solution which leads to harmony and peace.
- Akanksha Verma
Hotel Management & HR
❅
The Mind needs to be Quiet & Receptive
Ordinary mental consciousness does not have the strength or
capability to perform such a task [i.e. give sure answers]. It needs
to be nurtured to do this. At every step, our inconscient self needs
hand-holding and guidance towards the right path.
Personal anecdote
I recently had to advise my supervisor on a major controversy.
The issue was big and everyone was scared and confused. We had
all sorts of different and contradictory suggestions from several
people. I myself had different thoughts floating in my mind and
I could not decide what advice to give as my advice could make or break the situation. I sat
alone for five minutes, closed my eyes and tried to seek the help of what my intuition told me
to do. During those five minutes I only heard my voice with all the contradictions put together.
9

10. But at the same time, I could see logic and reasoning more clearly. I finally gave my inputs and
those were greatly appreciated.
All contradictions are within us. They all stand united against us. When we look at
them as a whole, we find our solutions.
- Manu Arya
Culture & Public Diplomacy, Media Relations
❅
One needs to rise to a Higher Consciousness
The Ordinary mental consciousness is able to sort out smaller problems, but cannot give sure
answers to all our problems, if we do not rise above this mental consciousness we will keep
facing problems, keep fighting with them and never find a solution.
I have faced many difficult problems recently and if I try to analyse, I have realised that
only when I have risen to a higher consciousness have I found the true solutions. It has not
always been easy, because ordinary consciousness always pulls you down and wants you to
fight back, but it is this superior consciousness that gives us the right answers to all our
problems, because it is here that we are able to unite all contradictory ideas in a harmonious
synthesis and try to understand the root cause of the problem and the best solution.
- Toolika Gupta
Textile & Fashion Designer & Associate Professor
❅
From high up we can get a better perspective. Often
I was troubled with thoughts and I did not come
up with a solution. The harder I tried the less I
reached a conclusion. But in a real practical way I
did rise high, as a paragliding pilot, climbing a
mountain and flying. And while flying the thoughts
were gone, no time to trouble yourself with such
thoughts and then I realized that for some problems
there is not one solution, perhaps not even a solution. When I reached the ground again I was
much calmer and restful and could enjoy this rare moment of insight.
- Stefan Stautner
Development work, Lecturer & Sociologist
❅
For simple problems such as how to physically get from one place to another the ordinary
mind is capable of providing answers.
For more complex problems involving personal or social issues or interaction with others
the ordinary mental consciousness is usually more of a hindrance than a help. (In most cases it
would have been the cause of the problem in the first place!). This is because of the identification
10

11. with the false ego – the ego likes to find problems as they reinforce the illusion of separateness.
So for any problems that do arise the mind will not focus on solving the problem but rather
focus on proving the “little me” to be right (as usual!). Of course if there are other people
involved then they will probably also be operating from the ego-consciousness and there will
be all kinds of conflict with each mental construct dueling with the other mental constructs.
Personal anecdote
I could describe numerous examples of difficult problems that I have dealt with at the ordinary
ego-consciousness level – all of which have basically ended in tears. But I would like to mention
one problem that seemed to solve itself without “little me” getting in the way. About three
years ago I was basically financially independent. I had nearly all of my money invested in the
financial markets. I ignored the warning signs and when the markets crashed I lost most of my
money. The strange thing was that I had no strong reaction to this – no worry or fear or anger.
But I did feel a kind of opening up inside and a kind of liberation in this. I proceeded to take
certain steps to cut my losses and find some new income streams but these steps were taken
calmly like I was operating at a higher level. I wonder if the external stress level was so high
from the market crash (although I didn’t experience any internal stress) that it would have
caused an overload and my consciousness just opened up a bit to the higher plane? In any case,
I often tell people that losing most of my money was the best thing that ever happened to me.
By working at the higher level of consciousness the problem was truly answered because I
then understood that there was really no problem at all.
- a Student
11

12. In Search
A simple question in life
What am I searching for?
I am searching for a meaning
I am searching for a clue
I am searching for a hint
I write on a blank page of paper
The ink is the blood in my veins
The pen is the guide of my soul
The paper is my life
Crumpled , folded , hidden
I dare to open
I dare to unfold
I dare to see
Sunlight eyes stare out in the forest wood
Space , infinite
Tempest leaves for a neighborhood
No one in sight
I sat lonely
A very familiar gesture ancient
In solitude , feeling homely
Calm and patient
In this vast solitude , why am I searching
There is nothing here but space
Tiny birds on thinly sticks are perching
Staring questingly at my face
Go find yourself in the mad rush of cities
There the deafening noise will make you
aware of your self
There you will realize your crudities
Here you will dissolve into a tiny breath
of an elf
Don’t pretend - tweets my companion
from the branch
All change takes place in turmoil
The surface breaks only by the rumbling
of an avalanche
Come down from the air and return to
the soil
All is clear , I pick up my bag , and return
to myself
For in the crush of daily experiences ,
Will I see the true form of Thyself
And understand what they call as Bliss.
✍ Shibani Dara
12

13. When does Learning stop?
“To rise into the new consciousness, the first condition is to have enough modesty
of mind to be convinced that all that you think you know is nothing in
comparison to what yet remains to be learnt. All that you have learnt outwardly
must be just a step allowing you to rise towards a higher knowledge.” *
The Mother
Modesty & Humility : Key to Learning
The above mentioned statement reminds me of a saying by Plato: ‘The learning and knowledge
that we have is, at most, but little compared to that which we are ignorant of…’
The Mother laid stress on continuous learning and emphasized on all kinds of education
through the quote in context. She says that a man should never stop learning, we can learn
from everything, from every second that life goes by. We spend too much energy in planning
out hours and days that we forget to live the minutes and seconds and the learning they can
bring. Nobody shall learn anything until it is learned with humility. There should be an inner
fire to continue to know more and the mindset that I need to learn more and more. Albert
Einstein had said, ‘the only thing that interferes with my learning is education’. The ego which
interferes with our learning, the ‘know it all’ attitude is dangerous and hampers true evolution;
we must guard against it. We need to be ready to think out of the box, think of possibilities
beyond what the cognitive learning dome of the laid education has imprisoned us in.
‘Learning never exhausts the mind’ was a famous saying by Leonardo Da Vinci, which
also tells us that the capabilities and capacities of our mind are far from being optimally
utilized, forget about fully utilized. We must strive to learn and the will to do so should come
from the bottom of our heart as otherwise everything learned shall be perilous.
The time the quest of learning ends the man becomes old no matter if he is twenty or eighty.
The fire in belly for the quest to know more should be an eternal
flame not to be dowsed by outwardly education.
One scope of learning should not be the basis of ridiculing other forms of learning.
Scientific, technological and spiritual learning should be harmonious with each other, one
should not demean the other as it brings negativity which is certainly not the domain of
education. Integral education envisioned by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother based on the
fivefold aspects – the physical, vital, mental, psychic and spiritual – also talks about modesty
in learning, in fact, it terms modesty as a first condition of learning. Whatever we learn from
our daily lives or through formal schools of education should act as a catalyst for further
learning and not hinder in the process. We must learn to accept that there is a long way to go
*
The assignment in the ICIS online course: ‘Introduction to Integral Studies’, facilitated by Dr. Monica
Gupta) invites students to contemplate on these words and reflect why such an attitude is necessary.
13

14. from where we are and the process that never ends is learning; whether consciously or
unconsciously we learn always. We need to be humble, modest and be ready to accept other
ideas and knowledge which may not necessarily concur with our mental being. We should
develop a mindset which compares our learning with the tiny drop of an ocean and a path
which has a long way to go. A statement by Mahatma Gandhi covers the essence of the
Mother’s quote beautifully:
Live as if you are going to die tomorrow
Learn as if you are going to live forever
The above mentioned attitude is necessary as it can
be the only way we can learn to be more human and
learn the meaning of evolution. We are going away and
away from the ultimate aim of evolution, the dawn of
truth consciousness. The Mother said, ‘all nations and
continents, there is only truth or abyss’… we are surely
moving towards the abyss. All nations and continents
are sitting on bombs: atomic, nuclear, and biological or
humans as all are boastful, proud of their weapons of
mass destruction. The same energy and resources can be
used to make something good for whole mankind but
the environment of distrust, hatred and superiority
eradicates the emergence of such thought. There erupts a cold war when one nation develops
a weapon of mass destruction but no one mimics what a nation does in the name of humanity.
Humanity is losing its grace in the wake of current events.
The education we receive tells us to use knowledge strategically to get a good placement
and thus we forget to learn the knowledge; we commercialize it for the sake of our success in
the society or to climb the corporate ladder. We are afraid to share our knowledge as it might
take away our unique employment advantage from us. This leads to reinvention of THE
wheel over and over again thus wasting precious time and energy of numerous human minds.
The need of the hour is learning without pressure, learning with whole mind, body and
soul, learning with modesty and humility and to share it unconditionally to lighten the path
of as many as you can as you go forward. This approach is a necessity rather than choice in
today’s circumstances.
- Akanksha Verma
Hotel Management & HR
❅
Ascension of the Mind
Fixed notions, pride, prejudice and arrogance born out of petty achievements or possessions
14
are the prison walls within which the Subconscient mind incarcerates itself due to ignorance.
The winds of true knowledge rattle its cumbersome doors but instead of appreciating an
opportunity to free itself, the Subconscient complains of noise; further cloistering itself into
inner confines of petty past bred notions. The irony is apparent as the mind itself possesses the
key with which to throw the prison gates open!

15. The ostrich buries its face in sand in the face of danger; the subconscient hides within its
self created prison of narrow ideas when it feels threatened by
illuminating and invigorating thoughts. It is sandwiched
between the Inconscient and the Superconscient. The pull by
the nether forces, the inconscient are formidable; the
possibilities of sinking further appealing to the body and mind,
regulated and shaped to lethargy through eons of conditioning.
Evolution of man from half animal to the divine being
is the inevitable desire and ultimate consequence of the forces
of nature. The role of man however is as an active participant
and not as a passive bystander. Our heart and mind, our very
life should become conscious of this great objective and rid
ourselves of the outward knowledge which is the prime factor
within us resisting change, hindering the gradual 4 step ascension of mind to ultimate summit
of Supermind or Divine Gnosis.
Outward knowledge restricts our very vision. It views the slices
and chunks of the Universal Truth but never the whole truth.
This fragmentation of knowledge and vision prevent the totality
of truth seeking which is pre-existent.
It need not be proven by statistical means and collection of data. The Divine within us
is not attainable through acquired knowledge since it is a thought; a self revelation of eternal
wisdom. The supreme goal of the soul is to attain Sachchidananda, ‘existence’, ‘consciousness’,
‘bliss’. To attain the same, we have to get away from surface habits and petty tricks of our
mental being resulting from our shallow knowledge.
A true ‘gyani’ would be one who accepts that ‘he knows nothing’. As rightly too pointed
out by the Mother, the journey from darkness towards divine light and true self realization
starts with the first step of accepting your place in the lower realms of evolution towards
bringing the Supreme Divine on earth. The entire journey of mind’s ascent from Subconscient
to Higher Mind, Illumined Mind and Intution into Overmind and beyond, to Supermind
and ultimately to Sachchidananda, is a very long process which demands patience, forbearance,
resolve and discipline.
- Lt. Col. Rajesh Menon
Armed forces & Management
❅
Graduality & Continuity
The Mother is basically right in imparting this sound advice. There is another allegory that
might suit: in order to receive higher knowledge (of any sort), we should be ready to discard
our preconceptions and pre-existing baggage. In other words, if we were to receive a full glass
of higher knowledge, we ought to first discard the quarter of a glass of disparate knowledge
we already possess, lest higher knowledge goes to waste.
15

16. Sri Aurobindo preaches gradual ascent towards higher knowledge: ‘Instead of rejecting
all to burst forth in mid-air, the seeker has patiently climbed every rung of the being so well
that the bottom one remains linked to the top, without any break of continuity.’
We might compare the attitude hereby prescribed with that of Hinayana or the Buddhist
tradition that privileges endless soul-searching and work upon the self to the detriment of
sudden enlightenment that lies at the core of Vajrayana – or Tibetan Buddhism – for example.
Nothing could be truer.
There are essential or spiritual statements I personally had been exposed to in the distant
past. I now hold them as absolute yardstick, whereas in the past I probably either overlooked
them, or thought them less worthy than they are.
Truth needs time to sink in.
- Sergio Zenere
Self-employed; student of Eastern & Western Philosophy
❅
Search for Truth
The Mother is asking us to be modest which in effect amounts to being truthful – to recognise
and acknowledge that our current level of understanding is infinitesimal compared with the
vastness of true Knowledge.
The Mother also instructs that our externally focused knowledge, so valued by modern
science, is just a small step in the evolutionary path to higher knowledge.
The outer knowledge is a mere tinkering with the forms arising
in the play of manifested pure consciousness but the inner higher
knowledge is pure consciousness recognising itself as Reality.
This attitude of modesty is necessary because without it we would be demonstrating
that we believe that the ordinary human consciousness is capable of knowing all there is to
know about the universe, capable of mapping and producing general theories about every
aspect of reality. It would also mean that we
believe there is no metaphysical reality and
no evolution of consciousness, that reality is
out there as we find it and we are well on our
way to a scientific theory of everything.
The persistence of this way of
thinking will lead to the continued Ignorance
in the world and the wholesale waste of life
for the sake of the false ego – something that
doesn’t even exist. The modesty that The
Mother talks of is really a disassociation with
the false ego and the truth that that liberation
brings about.
- a Student
16

17. I reflect ...
I was asked when does one stop learning?
I say one never stops learning.
My question is what is learning?
In my view learning brings a change in the existing pattern of thinking and behaviour
and so it leads to progress. For knowingly or unknowingly whenever we come across a new
situation, a new thought, a new
pattern, a new form… we observe,
we assimilate and something
changes within us. Sometimes it is
through contact and relationships,
sometimes through a movie, a
performance, a book; it could be any
external or internal influence that we
feel inspired, touched and imbibe
something new and different from
that exposure and we learn and have made progress. Many times we’re not even conscious
outwardly but the inner consciousness has observed and made a note. And it is that which
makes us move forward in life.
Learning, to my mind, is a fourfold process. First is the observation & receptivity through
any one or all our senses, second is the receptivity of the mind and positioning of the information
received in the mind, third is its assimilation and conclusion. And lastly, its translation into
practical application.
I think, we’re constantly learning as we’re continuously acting but most often we do not
learn as much as we can in a given situation, and definitely we also ignore its multi dimensional
potential. We may pick up something from the situation which is important enough to take
us forward but at the same time we might have ignored other gleams of light that were
shining because we had not looked and observed deep enough.
Life is full of complex situations and circumstances and it is
how we deal with these that marks our level of growth and it
also takes us to the next level.
All depends on our readiness. Some of us are slow learners and some are fast. Some need
same lessons to be repeated before they can go to the next level and for some once is enough.
These people progress very fast.
17

18. So I ask myself
what makes one slow
rather than when does one stop learning?
I feel it is our lack of consciousness
that determines our scope and speed of
learning. It is when we’re lazy or do not
care to observe properly, or the mind is
too inert to evaluate and assimilate that
we lose the opportunity to learn. The
moment we become closed to experiment,
to try something new and different or when we continue to act from our old and narrow
horizon, we’re then at that moment itself closing doors to knowledge. To learn actively we
need to widen our approach, open the windows of our mind, become conscious and receptive.
To make our learning dynamic, we need to come out of our
stereotypical formations of thought and belief, surpass our
conventions, go beyond our comfort zone and be ready to take
on new challenges and face the risk with aspiration and sincerity.
Here the key is also to let go of our
expectations for the outcome may not always
be the one desired but still something new
emerges that requires fresh evaluation and
assimilation which then determines the path
to be followed. It is actually all about faith and
humility. For we’ve to have faith in our learning
and accept that we do not know all.
To learn, we need to have a scientific
approach. A scientist begins his experiment with
faith as his basis and even if it fails, he does not
lose heart but starts afresh with his unsuccessful
experiment done earlier, as the starting point.
There can be no room for fear or doubt
or laziness for a true and dynamic learner.
✍ Seema Agrawal
18

19. How to Choose correctly?
Arjuna’s Dilemma - in our lives*
In our day-to-day life, we invariably find ourselves contemplating about choices. Starting
from very small things such as getting up in the morning, what to wear, what to eat, where to
go etc., and big decisions of life such as taking up a job in foreign countries, marriage, raising
a family etc., we are constantly making choices. The intensity is no doubt incomparable with
what Arjuna’s dilemma is in the Gita but this is what happens to us every time.
More often than not, we ourselves are responsible for these situations as our expectations
are rising day by day. For example, when I started my career, my first salary was a paltry
Rs.2,500 and I used to think that when it would be Rs.15,000 then I would be happy and
content. However, today when my salary
is many folds, I sometimes fail to
understand where all the money is going.
I sometimes feel even more miserable than
I used to, when I started my career. The
point I am trying to put forward here is
that we always try to justify our actions
that are based upon our insatiable desires
and self-created fears.
If we become conscious of these choices and take actions based
on our need and not based on our greed then most of our
mental sufferings would vanish.
Another thought which is somewhat related to this situation is that we unnecessarily
dwell upon the possible outcomes before even initiating the actions. When we all know that
life is about making choices then we should try and take action which we feel is ‘right at that
particular moment’ and should not think too much about the outcome. The point of emphasis
here is to decide ‘what are the right choices/actions?’ and the basis to decide is what we are
trying to understand with this study of the Bhagawad Gita.
- Mukul Gulati
Management
❅
For any important decision in life, a human being undergoes the same confusion and crisis as
that of Arjuna. The decision making is important, at the same time it is confusing to understand
*
The assignment in the ICIS online course: ‘Study of the Bhagawad Gita in the light of Sri Aurobindo’,
facilitated by Dr. Sampada Savardekar asks the students: ‘The situation confronting Arjuna is one that has
never happened to him before. Thus, he is at a loss as to how he should deal with it. Could this happen to
any of us, possibly with some difference of intensity? If yes, why do you think so?’
19

20. the right path. There will be always an option
wherein you can choose what is good and what
is the most enjoyable or pleasant. But the choice
always makes it all the more difficult. The
problem comes in different intensity depending
on the personality and psychological sensitivity
of the person. Finally, the decision taken or the
route chosen completely depends on his choice.
The right path always will be hard and difficult
and it will be the route to the truth. The path
of dharma can be attained only through sacrifice,
devotion, love and trust.
Arjuna’s trust in god could be best illustrated through certain verses of the Gita that
illustrate Arjuna’s dependence and trust in God; he mentions that he is His disciple and his
soul needed to surrender unto Him. If all the being approaches God in a similar way, God
Himself will provide the solution to all his miseries.
Such confrontations have always been there in my life, a recent one being the crisis I
faced myself in leaving my job for the sake of my children. I had been a professional, generator
of added income to my family. While my son and daughter needed some personal attention,
I had to leave my profession for their good. The decision making was very hard and I believe
I had opted for good rather than the pleasant option.
- Mini Suresh Babu
Quality Audit, IT, Admin
❅
Choosing between the Good (sreyas) & the Pleasant (preyas)*
I have been facing many situations at every moment of my life to decide on “the good” and
“the pleasant” or in other words, “the needs” and “the wants”!
The wants always give you pleasure and the needs are in doing good to yourself.
Honestly, I always want to spend on my wants than on my needs.
Recently, I had a beautiful offer to do a course related
to personality development and boosting up confidence,
which is announced on concession from Rs.3000/- to
Rs.1000/-. I was left with Rs.1000/- by the end of the
month. I had many things to buy like a pair of decent
sandals (though I have one to wear at the moment), 3
kurtas as I feel am short of clothes, a good sports water
bottle and so on. . . I found it so hard to decide as I have
been postponing this list since 4 months but could never
make it.
Every time I get a chance to buy I always had to decide on spending it on sensible things
which would give me knowledge, peace and inner strength.
20

21. I try my best to take the wise decision into action as soon as possible. This helps not
only to stop thinking about the wants but also see the actions turning out fruitful in my life!!!
- Bhargavi Pukkella
Online Vedic Mathematics teacher
❅
Even at the summit of the ordinary mental consciousness, there is no
solution to the problem of the kind Arjuna was confronted with.*
Arjuna’s problem is to decide between two actions with seemingly equally deplorable
consequences. As Annie Besant notes: “To break family ties was a sin; to leave the people in
cruel bondage was a sin; where was the right way? ... The answer is the burden of the book”.
The kind of problem confronting Arjuna cannot be solved at the ordinary mental level
of consciousness (even at the peak of such consciousness) because the problem itself has arisen
due to the Ignorance of identification with the false ago. The false ego creates “problems” in
order to continue the illusion of duality, separateness and its own apparent existence. To try to
solve the problem through some action in the same realm of ordinary mental consciousness
within which the problem arose amounts to the ego dealing with the ego – simply moving
things around, making a noise within the confines of the limited ego-self.
As Mohinim Chatterji writes in his commentary on the Gita, “no conditioned creature
can cease to be conditioned by any act. It can only be changed by a new consciousness arising
from a source different from the conditions which seem to limit the ego.”
- a Student
*
Study of the Bhagawad Gita in the light of Sri Aurobindo, facilitated by Dr. Sampada Savardekar : course
assignments.
21

22. Gratitude
One day my three year old daughter asked me about a dress she was wearing. She asked,
“Mama, who gave me this?” And I said, “Your aunt did”, and as her face lit up she said,
“Thankyooooo, thank yooooo,” gratitude drooling from all over her being. (This continued
for many weeks, everything she wore or played with begot the question, “Who gave me this?”
or “Did so and so give me this?” followed with a ‘Thank you’ drooling with sweetness and
gratitude. Each time this happened it warmed my heart and a smile would break across my
face.
She does not say thank you all the time right away when she receives something from
someone, or when we want her to say ‘Thank you’; and although I prompt her each time, I
am not miffed when the words don’t seem to make it out of her mouth.
I am glad, though, that she has experienced the feeling that gratitude creates and how
beautiful it is to express gratitude when she
receives something. I hope that it is this
feeling that will stay embedded in her for the
rest of her life and when the time comes when
she starts using ‘Thank you’ more frequently,
it will have the rasa of her experience of
gratitude.
In my experience whenever I have
been truly grateful I have got that warm,
fuzzy feeling in my heart and I can see the
same happening in the other person as well.
Gratitude opens up the heart and makes our inner being smile.
When we express gratitude, as we thank another, we build a bank of goodness within
our own being. And as we put more and more in this bank, we can’t help but be boosted by
this goodness even in trying times or when we are discouraged or feeling down.
Again this reservoir of warmth and positive energy is created when gratitude is expressed
with genuineness, when we really mean it; otherwise it is like asking for coconut water and
getting only the shell.
I once read somewhere that some people wrote down in their journal at the end of the
day one or two things they were grateful for and really benefitted from the exercise.
Some people choose to share their gratitude with others by writing a letter, sending a
card or an e-mail. Some do it through flowers, some like to give donations, or some like to
offer their services.
The expression of gratitude can take many forms or can be expressed in a simple and
genuine ‘Thank you’. Whatever expression it takes, it is definitely deeply fulfilling.
✍ Phalguni Freeman
22

23. Why is it so difficult to be Free?
A simple question in life
Why is it so difficult to be FREE ?
I ponder .......
FREEDOM
A concept so simple to ask of - yet an experience so complicated to realize
I have 1 simple question in life ...
WHY CAN’T I BE FREE ?
Right from childhood we have been advised of rules, right and wrong.
Boundaries in family, relations, schools, education, work, direction, paths, everything .....
23

24. 24

25. What is freedom
Definitely not – doing anything you want, Irrespective of surroundings ....
The freedom I am seeking is the freedom of my soul
The freedom to experience my soul
The freedom to feel my soul
The freedom to be free
Not bound by karma
Not bound by inheritance
Not bound by expectations
Not bound by needs and wants
So simple ... To be free ....
Am I ready to be free
Am I ready to break out
Am I fearless
Am I sincere
I ask my self this simple question in life
What is stopping me to be free
Fear
Ease
Justifications
Insincerity
An answer my soul seeks from within
A resistance which stops from without
A Dilemma
A question ?
✍ Shibani Dara
25

26. The Role of Therapist in Healing
“The client’s consciousness is, of course, the centre of the therapy process. But of
equal importance is the therapist’s consciousness. For transpersonal psychotherapy
is defined not merely by the theoretical framework but by the practitioner’s own
deepening spiritual journey, which gives meaning and life to the framework. It is
the therapist’s own actual experience of opening to the divine (whatever form or
path this may take) that provides the atmosphere to support the client’s
multidimensional growth.”1
❅
Consciousness is Contagious*
Positive change in the client is a result of an evolutionary shift in consciousness. This change
in consciousness is brought about as a result of the client interacting with the more evolved
consciousness of the counselor / psychotherapist.
The reality of the matter is that consciousness in general - and
psychic consciousness in particular - is contagious and so the
client’s consciousness evolves as a natural result of interacting
with the therapist.
Obviously for this transformation to take place meaningfully it is essential that the
psychotherapist concerns herself with the constant development of her own consciousness.
This requires ongoing sadhana. Only when one has reached a place of wholeness is it possible
to lovingly usher others into this state.
- Matthew Rich
Educator, Scholar, Writer, Activist
❅
In Freudian-based Psychoanalysis the therapist typically sits behind or at a distance from the
client. There are many parallels between Freud’s approach and Newtonian physics, and the
physical separation of the analyst from the client is in keeping with the presentation of
Psychoanalysis as the science of the unconscious. In line with the positivist-objectivist paradigm
Freud believed that the mind could be mapped and scientific laws induced from objectively
observing the content of the subconscious through analysis of talk and dreams.
1
*
26
Brant Cortright. Psychotherapy and spirit: theory and practice in transpersonal psychotherapy. New York:
Albany, 1997. Cited in ‘Indian Psychology’ course book.
The students were asked to discuss ‘It is the consciousness of the therapist interacting with the consciousness
of the client that brings about a positive change in the client’ as an assignment in the ICIS online course:
‘Indian Psychology’ facilitated by Dr. Suneet Varma.

27. Carl Jung took a different view
however. From his own vast experience he
was convinced that “only if the doctor
knows how to cope with himself and his
own problems will he be able to teach the
patient to do the same. In any
thoroughgoing analysis the whole
personality of both patient and doctor is
called into play. There are many cases which
the doctor cannot cure without
committing himself. When important
matters are at stake, it makes all the difference whether the doctor sees himself as a part of the
drama, or cloaks himself in his authority.”
More recently M. Scott Peck has stated that “it is almost impossible for a patient to
experience significant personality growth without a ‘therapeutic alliance’ with the therapist”.
It is the therapist who has worked on himself, who has walked the path and confronted
and overcome the typical problems of everyday life, who brings not his techniques and degrees
but his expanded consciousness to the therapy session, who the client will trust and positively
respond to.
- a Student
❅
“Spiritual traditions speak of the importance of spiritual seeking becoming
conscious. People seek the Divine unconsciously at first, but at some point the
quest becomes conscious and engages the person’s intention. When being on a
spiritual path becomes a conscious decision and pursuit, everything changes. Other
circumstances begin to yield to the inner spirit and the Way opens up. Consciousness
becomes engaged in its own transformation.
The state of consciousness of the therapist has a far-reaching effect on the
therapy process. Consciousness is seen as a field which influences, mutually
interpenetrates, and provides a facilitating medium for the client’s inner unfolding.
This is something that most religious traditions have upheld for centuries. The
traditions of guru, spiritual guide or influence, support the idea that the presence
of a spiritual teacher is helpful in allowing others to contact the spiritual realm.
Consciousness is contagious.
This is not to say [now here the transpersonal therapy would differ a little bit
from the spiritual approach or the guru tradition] that the therapist is in the position
of guru, merely that for a transpersonal therapist to be actively pursuing a path of
spiritual awakening allows him or her to be an energetic influence as well as to
empathize with and recognize the terrain that is likely to be encountered by others.”2
2
---.
27

28. Transformation of Human Evil*
We will start by taking the definition of evil from M. Scott Peck. In his words “evil person
is a person who does not for some reason work towards his or her own growth and deliberately
obstructs the growth of the others”.
I believe that every emotion or effort towards exhibiting an emotion is contagious, so if
I start loving everyone around me, everyone around me will start feeling love from their
surrounding or at least start seeking the same emotion everywhere. In the same manner if I
spread evil around me, everyone around me will start being cautious, start acting defensively
in every situation, and may be, start harming others
around them in order to protect their own selves.
So if these acts or emotions are contagious,
how can a therapist provide unconditional love and
complete acceptance to the client who is evil? As
per the author, it is incredibly difficult to stay
unaffected in this kind of engagement and stay
focussed with firm belief that it is a battle between
love in the heart of therapist and evil in the heart
of client and if the therapist lets evil emotions or
intentions of the client to affect him/her, then the
therapist will not be able to help the client.
With this understanding the therapist has to stay focussed on helping the client with his
undying love, and make its impact more powerful than the client’s evil emotions and let the
client get that contagion effect of therapist’s love than the other way round.
This contagious nature of love is the only tool and method which can transform the
human evil, even if it is most difficult to achieve.
- Atul Goswami
Executive Coach (Management)
❅
Carl Jung wrote that “touching evil brings with it the grave peril of succumbing to it”.
According to M. Scott Peck the opposite of love, the great impediment to spiritual
growth, is laziness - the attempt to avoid legitimate suffering. Laziness is effectively the original
sin, the inherent evil in all of us.
Noting that mainstream psychology in general has acted “as if evil did not exist” Peck
has nevertheless reached the following conclusions regarding the nature of evil:
1. “evil is real” (although people acting in an evil way are not doing so consciously with
awareness);
2. “evil is laziness carried to its ultimate, extraordinary extreme”; “truly evil people ...
actively ... avoid extending themselves”;
3. “the existence of evil is inevitable (at least at this stage in human evolution)”;
*
28
The students were asked to discuss ‘Love & Transformation of Human Evil’ as an assignment in the ICIS
online course: ‘Indian Psychology’ facilitated by Dr. Suneet Varma.

29. 4. “while entropy is an enormous force, in its most extreme form of human evil it is
strangely ineffective as a social force”; a soul destroyed leads to a soul saved; one’s
personal fight against evil becomes an essential part of one’s spiritual evolution.
Peck defines evil as “the imposition of one’s will upon others ... in order to avoid extending
one’s self for the purpose of nurturing spiritual growth”. He believes that love has the capacity
to transform human evil - in fact “probably the only truly effective way to deal with evil is to
transform it though love”. If the therapist is unable to feel love for the evil person and shuns
them then there is no change and evil remains in the world. Instead there must be a sacrifice the therapist must willingly “absorb the evil”. For reasons which the logical mind cannot
comprehend, the good is not destroyed or cancelled out in this process - the love remains.
- a Student
❅
Our most natural response to the presence of evil is to recoil in disgust, but if the
psychotherapist is to transform evil it is necessary that she transcends this reaction. Instead she
must choose to respond to evil with love (indeed this is the only way that it can truly be
transformed). This requires a willing sacrifice by the therapist on the client’s behalf. When she
is willing to offer love in the face of evil her soul becomes a battleground for the transformation
of evil. Evil is absorbed by love and only love is returned. When the healer is willing to
sacrifice herself in this way something utterly mystical transpires and she can only but emerge
victorious.
- Matthew Rich
Educator, Scholar, Writer, Activist
❅
“The healing of evil – scientifically or otherwise – can be accomplished only by
the love of individuals. A willing sacrifice is required. The individual healer must
allow his or her soul to become the battleground. He or she must sacrificially
absorb the evil. Then what prevents the destruction of that soul? If one takes the
evil itself into one’s heart like a spear, how can one’s goodness still survive? Even if
the evil is vanquished, thereby will not the good be also? What will have been
achieved beyond some meaningless trade-off? I cannot answer this in language
other than mystical. I can say only that there is a mysterious alchemy whereby the
victim becomes the victor. As C. S. Lewis wrote: “When a willing victim who had
committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the table would crack and
death itself would start working backwards.”
I do not know how this occurs, but I know that it does. I know that good
people can deliberately allow themselves to be pierced by the evil of others, to be
broken thereby, yet somehow not broken. To be even killed in some sense and yet
still survive and not succumb. Whenever this happens, there is a slight shift in the
balance of power in the world.”3
3
Peck, M. Scott. The Road Less Travelled (1978). Morgan Scott Peck (23 May 1936-25 September 2005) was
an American psychiatrist and best-selling author.
29

30. To Act or not to Act?
Karma, Liberation & Action
WHEN DOES KARMA HAVE NO CONSEQUENCES FOR MEN?
WHY SHOULD MAN STILL WORK HERE IN MANIFESTATION
WHEN HE IS FULLY LIBERATED?*
The freedom of men does not depend upon inaction. Rather the doing of works in this
material world and a full acceptance of the term of physical life are part of its completeness.
Man is also in the body for self-fulfilment by action only. Being in the body or any kind of
body, it is idle to think of refraining from action or escaping the physical life.
The idea that inaction in
itself can be means of
liberation, is part of the
Ignorance which supposes
the soul to be separate entity
in Brahman.
Action is generally shunned as it is thought that it is not consistent with the idea of
freedom. It is assumed that when man is in action it has to be necessarily entangled in the
desire behind the action. It should be understood, that the chain of Karma only binds the
movement of Nature and not the soul which, by knowing itself, ceases even to appear to be
bound by the results of its works.
Thus man should still work here in manifestation as chain of Karma only binds the
movement of Nature. Karma has no consequence for men only in the case when they attain
this self-realization.
- Mitesh Tank
Working with an NGO
❅
Karmas have no consequences for men only when they go beyond the ego and material self.
Man should still work here in manifestation when he is fully liberated because only then will
he truly be part of manifestation as the Lord. The Lord, fully free and liberated bound himself
and fell into the inconscient so it is the responsibility of man to participate fully in creation
even after being fully liberated. Man has to do his duty as he has the body. For manifestation
to continue, continuing to manifest is essential. We have to realize that we are Him and we
*
30
This question forms an assignment in the ICIS online course: ‘The Upanishads in the light of Sri
Aurobindo’, facilitated by Dr. Vladimir Yatsenko.

31. have to apply it and manifest by and through ourselves. When one is free from the object of
enjoyment then Karma has no consequences on man. One should have only one attachment,
that is, to fulfill the cycle of life.
Karma
will
have
no
consequences if one lives with
the freedom of consciousness.
When one has the Lord’s consciousness one
should stay and reveal the Lord. One should bring the
higher consciousness on earth. Karma does not stick
to man when he reaffirms: Don’t lust after anything.
Don’t lust to acquire. Don’t lust after anyone’s wealth.
Enjoy yourself by renunciation.1 You enjoy yourself
like the Lord by being free from the object of
enjoyment. The whole universe is for your enjoyment.
Don’t lust after it. Don’t grab anything because it is all yours. You have the lord within who
has it already. We are all representing the Lord here. We are here growing in his habitat. We
should wish to live for a hundred years. We must finish the work we came to do in this
manifestation. If we get attached to the world, our ego and all we have and do, we destroy the
Lord within and are slayers of the soul.
- Chhaya Sanjeev Chaudhury
Business Professional (Enterprise management)
1
Enjoy yourself with that renounced, - thus it is said literally, tena tyaktena bunjithah; and not by
renunciation, as it is interpreted by Sri Sankaracharya. (Facilitator’s comment)
Events: Jul-Aug
July 17, August 22
Insights into Integral View (workshop for
groups of interns from VIMHANS)
Facilitator: Anuradha
August 15
Special meditation: Darshan day
Sri Aurobindo’s birthday &
India’s Indendence day
August 11
New Creation of Society study group
Facilitator: Ameeta Mehra
Saturdays : 9am to 10am
‘Savitri’ study group
Facilitator: Ameeta Mehra
PICTURE CREDITS
• pp.5,10,23,24,32: Shibani Dara, New Delhi, India
• The Awakening Ray logo: artist: Krishnalal, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, India
• The Gnostic Centre bird: artist: Neera Goyal, New Delhi, India
• Back cover (The Gnostic Centre photo): Franz Fassbender, Auroville, India
31

32. The Descent
Mystic Absolutes
lassoed the enraptured soul...
Cadences Supreme
textured the dreamed-Delight...
A whisper Divine
dumbed the noised-world...
Grace rained down- brilliant-spears
hunting fiercely
portions of the Being- deep-surrendered
to consume and be consumed...
Spirit-Life unfurled its shy tendrils
compelled- Sun-drawn...
Sweet Love- mystery-glanced
enticed the Divine Lord
to wed it
mastered and complete...
✍ Monica Gupta
32

33. Can one stay Detached in Enjoyment?
When we watch a film or a play, we often identify with the characters and experience
their emotions and even pain. However, in real life, we might display a greater selfcontrol or detachment. Similarly, a person who is quite emotional in daily life, might
stay unaffected through a film or play.
In the ICIS online course ‘Paradigms of Psychological Knowledge’, facilitated by
Dr. Suneet Varma, the students were asked to reflect upon how the enjoyment of
aesthetic experiences can be understood on the basis of ego detachment. Their responses
shed light on how one can actually train ego detachment in oneself through aesthetic
experiences and apply it in real life situations.
Aesthetic Experiences & Ego Detachment
In a broad sense we could define “aesthetic
experience” as a concentrated perception
invoking a vivid experience in the perceiver.
In the example of live theatre or a motion
picture an audience member may authentically
feel the emotions being displayed by the actors
- feel the fear, romantic love, sadness, joy or
whatever is being acted out at the time. In order
for this to happen however the person needs to
bring a high level of concentration to the
experience.
The audience member may even find the experience of negative feelings to be enjoyable.
Also emotions may be experienced during the drama which he or she does not normally feel
or display outside the theatre. What seems to be happening is a separation in the consciousness
of the person between what is real (i.e. what he or she believes to be true) and the fiction of the
drama. So the emotions are felt but they are moderated and not full blown. This can be seen
as a kind of disengagement or ego detachment - there is limited or no identification of the
person with what is happening in the drama.
Concentrated perception facilitates the vivid experience of the emotions from the drama
(the aesthetic experience) and the detachment of ego allows for the enjoyment of even the
negative emotions thus experienced (as they are not identified with). If the protective frame or
detachment mechanism has not been learned, say for example in a young child, then the child
may identify with the drama and will experience the emotions evoked by the actors as being
real.
- a Student
❅
33

34. For years I have tried to solve this mystery of un-controllable emotions.
• How one of my friends, who shed not a single tear at her own wedding, would shed
tons in a movie theater, when a similar scene was enacted! She was as mystified but
could not control. Seemed to get carried away by the moment.
• Sometimes while reading novels one gets so involved that we smile or shed tears
depending on the matter being narrated.
• I’ve seen my grandfather cry while watching ‘Ram Lila’ in our village in Punjab. In
fact he would even touch the feet of actors playing Ram and Sita.
Finally the mystery has been solved. ‘Ego detachment’ – where we can think and feel
without really involving the self (with all its complexes and prejudices). What does this ego
detachment involve? To answer we have to go right to the start of life. Our self /ego is defined
by the play of natural (genetic) factors and social factors.
• Crying is taught to be a sign of weakness. ‘Cry and you cry alone’.
• Boys in India are constantly goaded to be strong and not to show girlie traits, like crying.
My friend, who did not cry at her wedding, saw no reason to cry as she had a love
marriage and marriage would not end her association with her parents. This is just an example
how our ‘self ’ comes into action in direct dealing with a problem. But when we are in a
theatre/play/reading a book, at times, we get caught up in the story and the play of emotions
therein. One can feel the distress, joy, happiness, sadness, loss in the story, as at that time our
self is not threatened (by direct dealing - nobody is watching us - of that reality). Hence we
can enjoy the aesthetic experience.
- Sameer Sharma
Education & Administration
❅
An interesting thing here is that there is a kind of a self-distancing or an ego-distancing;
almost as though there is an ego transcendence and what is even more fascinating is that
though in real life we may not feel certain emotions to any significant degree, say for example
– there are many who may not feel ‘love’, yet in the aesthetic situation the emotion of love is
evoked in their consciousness, though in their personal life it does not figure. So what is
happening? The implication of this is profound because this perspective suggests that we all
have the capacity to experience these major emotional states and to go into these major
emotional states. Yet, because of experiences in life the corresponding emotions in the context
of our personal life history may be very specific, we may be experiencing much more of anger,
bitterness, fear or sadness and some people may have more of positive emotions in their life.
Many emotions are not evoked to a significant degree because there is a kind of identification.
So we respond to life situations in a fixed manner. Our capacity in real life to experience
emotions gets extremely delimited. There is a tendency to re-live similar experiences in our
lives because of this kind of ego embeddedness. This suggests that we can consciously work at
distancing ourselves from our own emotions, realising that it was a particular state of experience
in a situation because of an interpretation and because of a certain kind of identification - the
notion of who I am.
- Atul Goswami
Executive Coach (Management)
34

35. Can Ahimsa work in every situation?
“... there is continually a struggle between right and wrong, justice and injustice,
the force that protects and the force that violates and oppresses, and when this has
once been brought to the issue of physical strife, the champion and standardbearer of the Right must not shake and tremble at the violent and terrible nature
of the work he has to do; he must not… betray his cause and leave the standard of
Right and Justice to trail in the dust and be trampled into mire by the bloodstained feet of the oppressor, because of a weak pity for the violent and cruel and
a physical horror of the vastness of the destruction decreed. His virtue and his
duty lie in battle and not in abstention from battle; it is not slaughter, but nonslaying which would here be the sin.”1
❅
In many situations, Ahimsa – harmlessness and non violence will not be a solution. As Sri
Aurobindo had discussed, action, war and revolution are required to bring in dharma in place.
This however does not involve unmindful killing of numerous individuals but is required
when adharma, injustice and falsehood would come in the path of truth. The same has been
applied during our war of Independence. Even though Gandhiji was following the path of
non-violence, it is movement in offence against injustice that led to our freedom. Dharma of
course is intractable term in Hindu philosophy and the whole world is held together in righteous
way due to this dharma.
Ahimsa cannot work in all situations specially nowadays. Recent mission of social activist
Anna Hazare against corruption is the best example of fight against Adharma. If there is no
movement and fight against Adharma, it will continue as it is and path to the truth will be
buried in falsehood. Same is the case with Arjuna, where Lord himself asks to fight because
unless the fight occurs dharma would never win over Adharma. Even though Ahimsa is a
divine quality, lord does not favour ignoble weakness of the heart, for that reason, when
ahimsa is sattva guna in an individual Arjuna’s inertia can be considered as Tamas and the
Updesha is nothing but awakening from the Lord himself to fight and win protecting justice
and Dharma.
- Mini Suresh Babu
Quality Audit, IT, Admin
❅
The students were asked to reflect on Ahimsa, based on their own experiences, as an assignment in the ICIS
online course: ‘Study of the Bhagawad Gita in the light of Sri Aurobindo’, facilitated by Dr. Sampada
Savardekar.
1
Sri Aurobindo. Essays on the Gita ‘The Creed of the Aryan Fighter’. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
35

36. Ahimsa to me means “winning without hurting anyone” and sometimes it also means “being
patient at your actions”. In certain situations, Ahimsa becomes vital at the beginning of any
action. But not all situations can be dealt with Ahimsa.
According to Sri Aurobindo… he quoted Ahimsa as “Harmlessness” which is a divine
quality.
My mom would always advice “the one who bears the pain/sufferer is not the weak one,
in fact he/she is the strongest.”
In my Graduation first year, being 19 I was a girl who would never hesitate to give it
straight on face on someone being indecent at conversation. I had a couple of heated
conversations with a couple of students who tried being indecent using slang language. This
made it a reason for me to be bullied by all my class boys all throughout the years.
They would tease saying Shorty!! everywhere, anywhere in the college. I never liked it
and I always threw my frustration at my parents about this humiliation and the stupid college
and always asked them to take an action. But they would always console me asking me to be
strong. After 3 years of vigorous humiliation I waited with good patience but one fine day I
went straight to the boys and gave them one serious warning and also to get ready for any kind
of action that might take place. They understood that this time I am really serious and would
burst to action; since then they stopped bothering me and also apologized to me after clearing
the misunderstanding between us.
Though what I gave is a simple example but three years were the worst period where I
lost my confidence facing humiliation every moment.
When a situation crosses its limit, one needs to revolt or rather
defend themselves.
- Bhargavi Pukkella
Online Vedic Mathematics teacher
❅
Belonging to the Gandhian era “Ahimsa” has been a word we’ve grown up with. At that time
and period it represented an ideal, a movement, a national fervour, a struggle, a patriotism, a
bonding which swelled across the whole of India. Ahimsa meant non-violence Gandhi said we believed and behaved. Ahimsa meant sacrifice in life, in food and clothing, it meant sharing,
it meant equality - everybody was in the same dilemma - the freedom struggle. The violence
of partition marred that and ahimsa gave way to a reprehensible violence of bloodshed which
stained our history books for ever. With Partition India gained freedom, freedom of speech,
freedom of action and freedom to do as you will. Over the years I have watched the decay in
our value system; it is no longer a struggle for freedom but a struggle to survive. “Ahimsa” is
lost in the swell of humanity. The new generation has no time, no tolerance, boundaries are
barb-wired with suspicion. How can Ahimsa survive? It is an obsolete word and confined in
the archives of history books. To me Ahimsa has a meaning only for people who have values
and I’m happy to say that most of the people from my generation have left a little of that
golden charm to our children. Now it is for them to pass on the legacy.
- Rajalakshmi Malhotra
Home-maker
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37. Ahimsa : An Interfaith Perspective
The interfaith declaration entitled “Towards a Global Ethic,” produced by an assembly of
religious and spiritual leaders from virtually every major world religion and spiritual movement
at the 1993 Centenary of the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago, USA, appears to be
an excellent document for addressing the topic of this article: “Can Ahimsa work in every
situation?” The declaration of 1993 states: “We affirm that a common set of core values is
found in the teachings of all the religions, and that these form the basis of a global ethic. There
already exist ancient guidelines for human behaviour which are found in the teachings of
religions of the world and which are the conditions for a sustainable world order.” “Do unto
others as you wish others to do to you,” has at its core the virtue of non-violence. If our
thoughts towards others are kindly and loving and peaceful there is no question why Ahimsa
should not work in every situation that confronts individuals in everyday living.
However, for the stability and peace in the society whether it be bilateral and multilateral
relationships among the comity of nations or between communities of different ethnic, religious
and linguistic groups Ahimsa will have to be cast in broader framework. It will have to be
based on the principles of justice, equity and the rule of law. Hence the subsequent Parliaments
of the World’s religions addressed these issues as well. At the 1999 conference held in Cape
Town, South Africa, the theme document was titled: “A Call to Our Guiding Institutions.”
The next one was held in Barcelona, Spain in July 2004 and it was themed: “Pathways to
Peace: the Wisdom of Listening, the Power of Commitment.” The last one held in December
2009 at Melbourne, Australia, December 2009 declared its theme as: “Make a World of
Difference: Hearing each other, Healing the earth”. The foundational principle of the meetings
of the world’s religious and spiritual leaders from time to time suggests that much progress
has been made to create common ground to promote Ahimsa and get the peoples of the
world to work in harmony to save our current and succeeding generations from mutual
annihilation. Decision makers are jolly well aware of the danger posed by “the rising fires of
religious prejudice”, and have collectively appealed for decisive action against fanaticism and
intolerance. Therefore, it is high time religious and secular leaders demonstrate their sincerity
by breaking away from impulsive patterns of behavior resorting to senseless violence and open
the way for society to address equally corrosive prejudices of race, gender, caste and nation.
Whatever justification that exists for exercising influence in matters of conscience lies in serving
the well being of humankind. At this greatest turning point in the history of civilization, the
need for such service could not be clearer.
Thus it is evident for humanity to move to a higher plane the thought of war will have
to be overcome with a stronger thought of peace, and the thought of hatred must be destroyed
by a more powerful thought of love. Only then will the power of Ahimsa or Non-violence
become the dominant paradigm among the peoples of the world.
✍ Dr. AK Merchant
General Secretary, The Temple of Understanding-India; Chairperson, Sarvodaya International
Trust-Delhi Chapter; National Trustee, Lotus Temple & Bahá’í Community of India
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