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Sri Aurobindo Online Sangha

An encounter with the divine

The Sanskrit word “Sangha” means “spiritual community.” The Sri Aurobindo Online Sangha is an invitation to experience deep, authentic, and profound spirituality in our turbulent modern times. The comprehensive vision of Sri Aurobindo [1872 to 1950] offers not only a far-reaching synthesis of Indian spirituality, but also a powerful, life-affirming, and credible answer to the growing disorientation of our modern times. In the Sri Aurobindo Online Sangha, we want to keep this vision alive in a form that is characterized by close and connected community and genuine friendship, deep experience of prayer and meditation, enthusiasm for a path with the divine, and a ‘yes’ to life and its possibilities for development. A warm welcome!

SRI AUROBINDO

Sri Aurobindo [1872-1950] was a great Indian yogi, visionary and writer. After an extensive western school education in England, he was initially involved in the political freedom struggle against the British occupation after his return to India at the age of 21. After a series of profound experiences of enlightenment, he finally retired to Ponicherry in South India, where he devoted himself entirely to spiritual work. After composing an extensive body of writings, he withdrew almost completely for 35 years in order to realise his vision of a spirituality that does not flee from life but is able to transform it into a greater fullness.

SAVITRI

With ‘Savitri’, Sri Aurobindo wrote an epic poem of impressive beauty, which is considered the longest epic poem in the English language. He took the classical Indian tale of ‘Savitri and Satyavan’ as the basis of his work. He counted Savitri as his most important work, on which he worked for over 40 years. He repeatedly emphasises that Savitri is not simply poetry, but that he has put his entire spiritual experience and vision into these verses. Savitri is not simply a ‘fantasy figure’, but a living spiritual reality with which we can relate in a similar way as other traditions do, for example, with Jesus, Buddha and Krishna.

THE MOTHER

Mirra Alfassa [1878-1973], usually called ‘the Mother’, was a French woman from Paris with oriental roots who developed a deep spiritual understanding early in life. She had visions of Sri Aurobindo in her early years and when she met him for the first time in India in 1914, she recognised him immediately. In 1920, the mother settled permanently in Podicherry and became Sri Aurobindo’s ‘spiritual co-worker’. Both recognised each other as equals in their spiritual realisation and in the following years the Mother took on all the outward work, such as building the ashram or later initiating the spiritual city project ‘Auroville’.

THE ONLINE SANGHA  EXPLAINED

The heart of the Sangha is regular joint practice as a community. To this end, joint meditations take place several times a week online via video conference. In this way, people from all over the world can connect to the shared energy field. The wish is that the power and presence of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother will truly become a living experience. In addition, there are explanations and inspirations via the YouTube channel, the podcast, and the app, which is the heart of communication in the Sangha. In the future, I would like to see regular retreats lasting several days. An important concern is that the overall activity does not remain purely online, but that there are also local communities that come together and participate in the Sangha’s activities together. These points are explained in more detail in the following sections:

The video still uses the old project name Sri Aurobindo Online Ashram, which I have changed to Sri Aurobindo Sangha.

OFFERS AND ACTIVITIES

SANGHA APP

The Sangha app represents the central portal for the project. Through the app, you can access introductory courses, daily information, guided meditations, as well as invitations to the regularly occurring online meditations or teachings. Register in the app to stay informed about all the important information from the Sangha.

MEDITATIONS

The meditations, and thus the immersion in the true blessing and spiritual power of this transmission, form the heart of this project in a way. It is possible to take part in the regular group meditations or to receive daily inspiration and guided meditations on your own smartphone via the app.

LIVE ON SITE

Personal encounters with real people in the physical world are an important and fundamental experience, also on the spiritual path. In local centers, we can meet “in real life,” exchange ideas, and build community. We hope that, over time, more and more such places will emerge that go hand in hand with the activity of the Online Sangha.

ABOUT ME

Hello!
My name is Sebastian, and I live in Freiburg, Germany, where I work as a psychotherapist for psychodynamic therapy and humanistic psychotherapy. The search for the divine and the innermost primal ground of my own being has gripped me intensely since my late teens. In addition to my professional training and my work, I have devoted a large part of my life energy and time to this search and the questions associated with it. I have not only become deeply acquainted with the Christian tradition, but have also studied and practised the various traditions of Buddhism, especially Tibetan Buddhism, and yoga for over 14 years. However, my encounter with the Indian teacher Sri Aurobindo eclipsed everything I had experienced and understood up to that point and opened up a completely new perspective on spirituality and access to a completely new and previously unexperienced spiritual power. I have been studying this master for almost 15 years now and spent a year and a half in India to familiarise myself with his places. For some years now, I have had a growing desire to see community grow from this experience and for the precious legacy of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother to become known to more and more people in these turbulent times and to open up a new perspective on where human life and one’s own life path can develop.

CONTACT

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Image “The Dancer” by Rassouli, www.rassouli.com