The Essence of Sri Aurobindo

By Bruce Cameron Elliot

We are souls and not the surface person, and every problem we say is ours, physical, mental or spiritual, is the result of the veil of Ignorance God placed over us, making us believe we are the surface person and its ego; and that veil will not be removed until we, the souls, have collected the required experiences that are indi-rectly created by the surface persons we falsely identify with.

As life unfolds its drama to the eyes,

And our joys and pains easily exchange,

It would be wise to remember the fact

That, the compliment heard, the song of the bird

The friendly clasp, the dagger in the back,

The child’s contagious smile, the repulsive and the vile

The slap on the face, the love and its grace

The hideous whip or the dreadful rod

Come not from another—other than God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CreatiVentures Publishing
• Release date: Sep 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781502284518

Book preview

The Essence of Sri Aurobindo

by

Bruce Cameron Elliot

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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without prior written permission from the author or publisher.

Copyright © 2014 by Bruce Cameron Elliot

August 2014

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Published by

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CREATIVENTURES PUBLISHING

C-22, Karan Gharonda,

Sainikwadi, Pune - 411014

Mb. 9689257575 | 975388062

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www.creativentures.in

www.theheartspeaks.org

Editing & translations by Avitra, Auroville

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Cover Design  -  Narotam Dhollakia, CreatiVentures

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ISBN (10) - 818836021-5

ISBN (13) - 978818836321

Dedicated to all seekers of truth

Acknowledgment

My acknowledgment and thanks to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust for permission to use extracts

from Sri Aurobindo’s magnificent works.

©copyright Bruce

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June 2012

September 2013

www.aurobindoessence.com

Designed & published by Prisma, Auroville

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Editing & translations by Avitra, Auroville

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Introduction

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The Essence of Sri Aurobindo will be presented in two summaries; one called the Bare Bones and the other Bones With Flesh. I have chosen these titles so as to con­trast them with the ultimate summary, The Full Robust Body Of Truth, which to me will only be found in the depths of our own inner selves.

My reason for writing these is twofold: To give an outline of Sri Aurobindo’s works to those who want only the bare essentials, and to give a deeper more compre­hensive picture to those who want more, but not too much more.

Most people I’ve spoken with simply find Sri Aurobin-do’s prose too difficult to enjoy, and the mystic poetry of Savitri, his masterpiece, beyond their reach. As for his prose, I feel the addition of more commas and some parenthetical brackets would have made things easier, but I’m quite sure some of his fluid poetic-prose style and its grand rhythms would have been lost—that breathless speed and confidence of a photographic me-mory. The English of Savitri is impeccable, but the difficulty is in this new form of mystic poetry and its inherent depth of spiritual knowledge. Of course anyone with even the slightest sensitivity to spiritual poetry can peek below the surface and gain some experience of its truth, but to get to any significant depth a combination of patience and sincerity is needed, along with a willing­ness to let its rhythm and sound pull you in.

To complete the introduction three very important things have got to be presented:

First, Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo was extraordinary in many ways and uni-que in his moment of history.

•  He recorded his spiritual experiences in detail.

•  He had easy access to all the religious and spiritual information that came before him.

•  He had a photographic memory which helped tre­mendously his reading speed and comprehension.

•  He mastered all the classic languages including San­skrit, and the poetry of these languages.

•  He was gifted with an impartial mind that could syn­thesize the most complex and contrary ideas and transcribe the