Our ongoing work

Svādhyāya: Study, Reflect and Grow Within

(Primary readings selected from the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother; selections made by Dr. Beloo Mehra)

• Topic 1: Human Relations in Yoga: Click HERE. (Ten weeks, completed Nov 20, 2021)
• Topic 2: Money and Yoga: Click HERE. (Three weeks, completed)
• Topic 3: Work and Yoga (10-week, completed March 26, 2022). Click HERE for details.

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COURSE DESIGN: THE ART AND SCIENCE OF CONSCIOUS LIVING

“A brave, frank, clean-hearted, courageous and aspiring youth is the only foundation on which the future nation can be built” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Vol. 8, p. 168).

Research done for this project which led to creation of appropriate learning content can be customised for a semester-length college/university level course or a short workshop/webinar. Interested institutions may contact us for more details. (Research outline and course details prepared by Dr. Beloo Mehra)

Rationale

There is a lot of talk in recent times about how a large section of India’s urban youth is slowly getting disenchanted and disillusioned by the ways of the society around them, and by the shallowness and superficiality that they see being presented as the so-called Indian cultural way of life. There is also a growing concern that many youngsters these days are quick to find the Indian ‘way’ as regressive, outdated, backward-looking and irrelevant for present times. They are prone to believe that whatever is modern and progressive is also ‘Western’ and vice versa. They are deeply uprooted from the spirit and ethos of the Indian cultural view of life and living.

There is a great need to address these and other related concerns. There is a need to help the Indian youth, particularly in the urban areas, discover some of the deeper dimensions of the Indian cultural view on human life and its purpose. There is also a need to facilitate among the youth a profounder understanding of the goals and pursuits of a human being, the Indian idea of a gradual progress and evolution of an individual, and the Indian approach to a harmonious individual and collective existence. Our educational institutions, especially the colleges and universities can and must play an important role in this regard.

The course, titled “The Art and Science of Conscious Living” is a step in this direction. This course has been developed with the objective to facilitate a greater self-awareness among the youth through a serious study of selected aspects of the Indian approach to conscious living. We believe that a thoughtfully designed course not only provides the learners with necessary content knowledge but also enough opportunities to develop their various faculties of analysis, reasoning, memory, imagination, and expression. At the same time a course must also facilitate the learner’s growing self-awareness and mindfulness. This is where the real inner development of the learner happens.

Our course is designed with this objective in mind. Only when learning becomes deeply meaningful for the growing minds will the youth of our country become more conscious of their choices and decisions in life. Only then they will be able to become not only responsible and creative citizens of our country but also more conscious and well-balanced individuals walking on the path of a conscious evolution of the human race.