Category: Indian Philosophy and Practice

Texts on Upanishads, Meditation, Yoga, Mantras, Brahman, Aurobindo, and Spiritual Practice in India.

Stream of life

I read Sri Aurobindo slowly and with long intervals. Why not read a lot and quickly, absorb everything, and finally bring order to my mental world, which wants to break free from the consequences of rational monotheism? Why don't I give my intellect the freedom, concentration, rest, and strength to embark on one of life's greatest adventures? As a student, I once swam very naively in the Rhine, somewhere near Basel, where the water was clear and cold, fast and broad green mountain landscapes…

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Shavasana

I am fascinated by the synchronicities here in Auroville. The mental, intellectual, spiritual, physical, and emotional spaces that intertwine here often do so over several days, seemingly effortlessly, intuitively, easily. I was exhausted. A friend had left his body, as they say here. The community had provided support for over a month, many had grown closer. In a small circle, the death ceremony Karumadhi was held, a specific type of puja on the 16th day when the soul leaves this world. For a few weeks...

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Memory

For 3,000 years, the books of the Vedas have been preserved in memory in India. The Rigveda (10,552 verses), Samaveda (1549 verses), Yajurveda (4001 verses), and Atharvaveda (5977 verses), as well as the Upanishads (approx. 1800 verses), have been passed down from generation to generation. The grammar of Sanskrit has not fundamentally changed, and the pronunciation has been meticulously conveyed through precise phonetic descriptions. Thus, these texts sound the same today as they did 3,000 years ago. They are written in the form of mantras, that is, in verse form and...

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Auroville cow

Intermiscence - Kena Upanishad

I'm just back from devotions and meditation. It's the anniversary of Sri Aurobindo. He left his body 72 years ago, as they say here. I've spent the last few days reflecting and talking a lot about his commentaries on the Kena Upanishad. I came across the word ‚intermiscence‘ there. It's used almost exclusively by Aurobindo. I asked everyone I met what the word meant. A friend here found a translation into German: ‚ineinanderfließen‘ (it describes in German...

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