PREDECESSORS Our predecessors are stalwart-scholars and yogis who had the vision and foresight of acknowledging the inherent psychological insights in Sri Aurobindo’s thought. This illustrious list begins with the late Prof. Indra Sen, who published as early as 1944 an article entitled “A psychological Appreciation of Sri Aurobindo’s System of Integral Yoga” and culminates in Dr. A. S. Dalal’s landmark publication of “A Greater Psychology” in 2001. Dr. Indra Sen used the term “Integral Psychology” in 1960 to denote Sri Aurobindo’s Psychological system but as Robert Gerard (in 1982) and Ken Wilber (in 2000) have been using the term for other things, the nomenclature “Integral Yoga Psychology” has evolved. Other predecessors include the late Kishore Gandhi who had been using class notes on this theme since 1966 at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, the late Madhusudan Reddy whose book on Integral Yoga Psychology was published in 1988,Jobst Muhling who differentiated conventional Western Psychology from Sri Aurobindo’s psychology in 1960, the late Haridas Chowdhury who with F. Spiegelberg in 1960 published a Commemorative Symposium proceedings where the term “Integral Psychology” was first used, C. R. Goswami who used this term in 1989 and Lloyd Fellows who established an Institute for Integral Psychology in USA during 1970s under the inspiration of Late M. P. Pandit.

Bonne Fête Kailas!

Kailas Jhaveri worked at the United Nations’ headquarters in New York in the department of Information from 1954-1956. She was a dreamer and believed that the aim of the United Nations is to work for human unity, to help nations be free of colonial rule and to become self-governing. Its objective, she also believed, is to help developing countries through their many international specialized agencies such as UNESCO, FAO, UNICEF, etc. Charmed by meeting people of different nationalities, she changed her course of study from psychology – she already had a degree in philosophy – to international organisation. In one of these classes Kailas met Dr. Adiseshiah, who had been invited to give a talk on UNESCO and international organisation. This marked the beginning of a life-long friendship. In 1964 she left New York, where she lived and worked for over ten years, to become an ashramite, while playing a pivotal role in expounding the ideal of Auroville to UNESCO, with the Mother’s blessings.

This is the introduction, noted down from Kailas’s words, to one of the papers that I wrote to introduce, in Auroville, Kailas’ work for the Mother. The speech she delivered in March stirred something very deep. The Mother was there. The extract below, from Kailas’ autobiography, is one among countless examples of her incredible dedication, faith, surrender to the Mother:

“I was put in charge of the UNESCO Section of Sri Aurobindo Society, but practically, I had no office, no table, no chair, no almirah, no typewriter, no secretary and no money. I learned to use any means available. For instance,  I carried out my correspondence, using the Society’s typewriter after the office hours, sometimes working till after midnight and filing my papers at home in my Ashram almirahs. Sometimes, I gave my papers for typing to Doreen, Navajata’s excellent secretary. She was faultless and superb in her execution” wrote Kailas. “It seemed that I was given responsibilities, but sometimes I had to find my own means to carry them out.  Even to go to Bombay, Madras, Delhi, or to Paris for the UNESCO conference, I had to find the finances or the transport needed.  And the Divine provided me with whatever was needed from unexpected sources.” 

Bonne Fete Kailas! The spirit of the early sadhaks is still alive!

Paulette

____

Kailas Jhaveri by Anurag Banerjee

2 Responses to “Margaret Woodrow Wilson was given the name of Nishtha by Sri Aurobindo”

1 | Mary Achor
June 3, 2009 at 3:38 am

I am one of the authors of “All the Presidents’ Children,” by Doug Wead.

When I started researching Margaret, all I could find was that she was “squirrely” and had gone to a guru named “Sri Abobimbo.” Fortunately, I have enough spiritual training to know who was in Pondicherry! The research on her was absolutely fascinating, and she remains my favorite presidential child. She was a woman far, far ahead of her time. (I think we are the first history book to actually give Margaret her due.)

Reply

2 | Mary Achor
June 3, 2009 at 3:40 am

I forgot to let you know that more information about Margaret Woodrow Wilson and other presidential children is available at http://upstairsatthewhitehouse.com/.

Reply

		Re: The Lives of Sri Aurobindo Lisaji said Dec 31, 2008, 5:13 AM:
	Hi Daniel,Thanks for posting those criticising reviews! It’s got me more interested. You will not be disappointed with the Life Divine. That book shop in the Ashram is rocking. A loosely related topic. Here is a beautiful picture of the inner chamber of the Matrimandir, (Check them all out here, unreal architecture). which is at the heart of Auroville. Its one of the most beautiful meditation spaces I have ever sat in. Lisa

10:49 AM 

Lisaji said Dec 13, 2008, 3:12 AM:
	Thank you for posting that David. I may even treat myself to a subscription. Here’s where our good buddy rests. It’s a lovely Ashram, and it was a nice place to sit for a while ~ Lisa

And the symbol which always accompanies the tracing is, of course, The Matrimandir, a huge golden ball. And I’d really like to know if the Aurovillians would be honest enough to themselves to make a real logotype and the company style when the Matrimandir is completed. They already have a slogan: а city with a soul. And there are plentiful designers and artists in the team, as this can be seen from well-done leaflets and posters.

So, Auroville. The geographical center of the city is Banyan tree, the only tree which was there when future Aurovillians had got this land. Matrimandir, city’s soul is located a bit aside it. Gardens, artists’ studios’, sports ground, pavillions of different cultures, cafes and restaurants are all around. Altogether it must resemble a galaxy. lucid skies (lucid_skies) wrote,@ 2009-04-22 18:06:00 Entry tags: india, photos
Auroville. The first citadel of New Age.

Mirror of Tomorrow :: Prof Nadkarni, we do hear you—by Amartya …

Dr Mangesh V Nadkarni

One Cosmos: On Honoring Truth with Knowledge

Pages

• Anurag Banerjee
  • Amal Kiran on the Mind of Light
  • André Morisset
  • Arjava
  • Aspects of Amal Kiran
  • Attaining immortality
  • Avatarhood
  • Datta (Dorothy Mary Hodgson)
  • Dilip Kumar Roy
  • Dr. Govindo Gopal Mukhopadhyay
  • Krishna Chakravarti
  • Nishtha
  • Pournaprema
  • Prithwi Singh Nahar
  • Rijuta (Patricia Noonan)
  • Sri Aurobindo’s Birth Place
  • Suresh Chandra Chakravorty (Moni)
  • Udar
• Tusar N. Mohapatra
  • Dr Mangesh V Nadkarni
  • Jayantilal Parekh
  • Peter Heehs
  • Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya
  • Prithwindra Mukherjee
  • R.Y. Deshpande
  • Savitra
  • Sisir Kumar Maitra
• Poetry Time: 11 April 2009

2 | Chiku
March 30, 2009 at 3:22 am | edit

Since you care so much about Dilip Kumar Roy, you might have heard of the recent demise of one of his closest disciples, Dr Govinda Gopal mukherjee, the noted sanskrit scholar, singer and author. he died in Calcutta on March 27 at the age of 91. A four volume anthology on Dilip Roy’s writings includes his correspondence with Dr Govinda Gopal Mukherjee, who was also very close to the late Krishna Prem and Pandit Gopinath Kaviraj.

http://savitriera.wordpress.com/anurag-banerjee/#comment-98

http://savitriera.wordpress.com/anurag-banerjee/dr-govindo-gopal-mukhopadhyay/

http://savitriera.wordpress.com/2009/04/13/a-note-on-dr-govindo-gopal-mukhopadhyay/

5:56 PM, April 13, 2009 | 6:05 PM