Phil, I guess my point ia that Christ is the
very Center of our soul. Julian of Norwhich
in one of her visions points this out. When we serve this Benevolent Love
Of God, we become the story of Christ.
I really do not read any of Sri Aurobindo's works anymore other then
"Savitri". Regardless of what you think, this is a very powerful work. I can
only read it when up in the mountians. I have to be in a beautiful place to
receive this epic poem. "Savitri" is about the Divine Marriage.

God Bless
Mark

Mark, why do you ask me such a question about Jesus? Who would "they" be that would somehow invalidate the historical basis of Christian faith? The Romans and Jewish leaders of the first century could not do so, and the Apostolic witnesses to the resurrection never waivered.

- edited: ah, OK, I see your post above -- was responding to an earlier one.

Re. Aurobindo and "Savitri," I'm not meaning to criticize your enjoyment of his works. There is much in Aurobindo's teaching and vision to affirm, but some parts that are in serious conflict with Christian teaching.
- see http://www.biblicalstudies.org...pdf/ijt/07-3_099.pdf for a Christian critique of Aurobindo.

Blissin, I want to thank you for directing me towards sister Faustina.
Beautiful stuff! I read what you suggested, and I was struck by her complete
commitment to the call she was to receive.
She was a Pure Soul that took on a body by choice to become a messenger of
the most High. She had to walk the walk, and sacifice her own well being to
get this Divine information out. She went through it all; dark night of the
soul, and spirit all at once. Her capacity was enormous! The wisdom within her
soul at a very early age, was to dumb-found me.
I did not agree with every word she wrote, as I have seen differently at times.
I believe this Godly Love is perfectly redemptive, as was demonstrated by Christ.
Nevertheless, we must first walk through hell before these Eternal gates can to be
presented. This world is still very crude, and a Pure soul such as sister Faustina
will always suffer, at least in our materialistic soceity where everything is
disposalable. The root of the creature runs deep within this organic vessel.

God Bless
Mark

Blissin
Sister Faustina went through it all. The fire and the heat.
That terrible empty void. Rejection by her peers. Physical decline.
The list goes on. Purity of Being requires such humility that it is
impossible to get one's head around it. It seems that only the heart
can seek this type of understanding.

Snippid of the Aurobindo site Phil has given above :

>>" . . . he maintains that the earth itself will be gradually turned into Heaven."<<

" Might your Kindom come "

Sri Aurobindo predicts that far away from now a time will come when the physical materia is getting a consciousness too. He sais that this is some of the most difficult spiritual things to do.

To add

" the meek shall inherit the earth"
" is it not written, I said ye were Gods"
"whoever believes in me greater works shall they do"


John of the cross, "The power and tendency of Love is
great for it binds God himself"



Sri Aurobindo did speak much about the devil/satan. Sri called
these dark forces, "Adverse forces". Aurobino himself was physically
attack by these forces much in the same matter of Padre Pio and John
Vianny. He also spoke of the Trinity. He called this the, "The triple
soul forces". Aurobindo was also Incorrupt, even though they eventually
cremated him. Yoganada was also incorrupt, and as my Mother said about
him, "truly a Christ being". My Mother was a daily go to Mass person.
An old Carmelite priest once said to me, " the Church has one speed, and
one gear. Slow, and reverse."
The best description I have ever read about Christ was in "Savitri". I
just can't remember the page number.
When Christian communities first started, it was electric. It was about
being "awakened in Christ". What did the Buddha say, "to awaken the sleeping
Giant".
When I read the poetry of the Christian saints, and the peotry of Walt Witman,
Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Aurobindo etc., I see that perfect line traveling through
this Godly sphere. A quote from the Gita, "where you find Beauty you shall find Me".

Mark, I'm wondering if you read that document contrasting Aurobindoism and Christianity I linked to earlier.

Of course, you will find similarities between spiritual teachers of different traditions. And I'm surely not denying that Beauty, Truth and Goodness are to be found in a wide range of authors from various literary and philosophical traditions.

But . . . to speak bluntly, here: so what?

It doesn't follow that it's all the same thing, or that Aurobindo taught the same thing as Christ, etc.

"Aurobindo was also Incorrupt . . . " Well, OK, for 5 days, whatever that's supposed to signify.

But Jesus is not incorrupt; he is resurrected, and lives forever in his glorified body. He is the one who is the incarnation of God, which is a great deal more than a saint or mystic or holy person.

So for a Christian, primacy is given to Christ and the teachings of his church, which is his mystical body. It doesn't mean we can't learn from other traditions, but it does mean that in matters of the soul and its transformation, we give priority to Christian theology and spirituality.

"The Mother" (successor to Aurobindo) wrote: "A Power greater than that of Evil can alone win the victory. It is not a crucified but a glorified body that will save the world."

What's with that? Aurobindo is dead! Jesus was crucified, but he is the one who lives now in a glorified body.

quote:

The very existence of Christ is questioned by some scholars. There might have been a man called Christ, and all the traditions regarding him may not be true of him historically but have been eventually attributed to him. . .

- and:

quote:

Men get certain truths and ideas from above and they think that they have got the whole thing, and then their further progress ceases. Christ stopped with Love, Buddha with Nirvana. What happens in most cases of sadhana is that some ideas, inspirations come from above, some truth descends and it acts upon the whole being — the mental, the vital, the physical. Now if these beings are not pure, they will betray, they will mix the truth with their own impure elements; they may achieve some apparent success but that will be neither complete nor permanent.

- http://overmanfoundation.wordp...nilbaran-roy-part-1/

What's with that? Aurobindo is saying that Christ's teaching is limited because of his emphasis on love, and that he might not be a pure being because his teaching is incomplete? Aurobindo in other places considers his teaching above that of Buddha, Krishna and Christ.

I'm just pointing out the contrasts with Christian teaching. Whatever parallels you might find there are superficial, and his teachings lead one away from Christian faith.

E.g., check out http://intyoga.online.fr/le.htm for a straightforward interview with Aurobindo. This man clearly thinks he has attained the highest spiritual realization in history.

Phil
I didn't say Aurobindo was Christ come again. He died
like every philosophier, Saint, or prophet. I am just saying
that many of his works were gorgeous, and if you read between
the lines, they do not vary much from some of our own Doctors
of the Church. What I do is take the New Testament, and the writings
of some of the Doctors of the Church, and a few of my own experiences
and use this as my foundation. If it is Love un-fettered, and Wisdom
not owned, then I pay it heed. If a read a work that opens the top of my
crown, and does stir my heart, then I usually acknowlegde this as something
good. I can now reach out to my brothers and sisters that may walk a
different path, and embrace them in my own reflection of Self.
Years ago I went to visit a Hindu Ashram in Sacramento CA. What I found
curious, was in their library was the works of Teresa of Avila, and John
of the cross. In their garden were statues of many of their saints, and a
statue of Teresa of Avila, and John of the cross.

Phil

I read the interview with Sri Aurobindo. I really didn't have a
problem with it. The human framework is limited, can only express
through words, and the talents it was given, and the means by which
the soul invested it, Its purpose in this magnanimous love of God.
Jesus too was a becoming. If he wasn't this Becoming, he would have never
sought out his desert experience, nor his own crucifxion. He had utter
faith in his ressurection, otherwise he would have never said, "Father,
why have you abandoned me".
The faith of a muster seed. Its purpose
will always be perfect if you put it in the right soil. What we tend to
do in our concordance to Rome, is stop our search if it is not in
compliance with the Vatican.

Mark, I didn't say that you said that Aurobindo was Christ come again. Nor did I say that it's all bad with him. Ultimately, however, his metaphysics and spirituality are at serious odds with Christianity on many important points. For one thing, there aren't really any such things as creatures in his schema -- only apparently so. It's a monistic, pantheistic metaphysics.

In Christianity, those whose teachings have been considered heretical are not 100% wrong, only 1%, or even less. In a journey of a lifetime, a 1% error in navigation can lead you far off course.

quote:

What we tend to do in our concordance to Rome, is stop our search if it is not in compliance with the Vatican.

And why not? What are you searching for that cannot already be found within Christianity, and what do you think you will find that is "non-compliant" (i.e., against Christian teaching) and spiritually helpful?

Now, I am closing this thread, as it has become a discussion of Christianity vs. Aurobindoism. We already have a discussion on that topic going on here. I might move a few of these posts over to that thread, as time permits.