This is the text of Chapter VIII of "The Life Divine," by Sri Aurobindo, copyright © Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 1990-2023.

BUT what then is the working of this Sachchidananda in the world and by what process of things are the relations between itself and the ego which figures it first formed, then led to their consummation? For on those relations and on the process they follow depend the whole philosophy and practice of a divine life for man. ...   more »

These Introductory Notes on "Hinduism" (a body of Indian religious and spiritual systems which follow the primacy of the Vedas) by Debashish Banerji attempts a cross-cultural description of this complex field seen as an unified discourse. Aspects covered include productive dualities within Hinduism, textual history of Hinduism, major Puranic gods, Hindu practices and the Hindu temple.   more »

Imo, this is an important editorial, from WorldChanging.com.

The question of how to engage Americans on pressing environmental issues is a perennial one. Arguably, environmental activist groups haven't made much traction. After more than 35 years since the birth of the modern environmental movement, the major green nonprofits cumulatively engage only 3 million to 4 million Americans - the roughly 1% of Americans who appear on the groups' mailing lists. -- It's no wonder, then, that the environment ranks near the bottom of issues about which Americans are concerned. And it explains why environmentally proactive political candidates don't run on those issues - and why conservative politicians, as a rule, can run roughshod over the planet with impunity. ...   more »

BioPower Systems Pty. Ltd. is commercialising award-winning biomimetic ocean energy conversion technologies. We have adopted nature’s mechanisms for survival and energy conversion in the marine environment and have applied these in the development of our proprietary wave and tidal energy systems. -- Our technologies inherit benefits developed during 3.8 Billion years of evolutionary optimization in nature’s ocean laboratory.The resulting systems move and sway in tune with the forces of the ocean, and naturally streamline when extreme conditions prevail. This leads to low design thresholds and associated low costs. ...   more »

Introducing the Green 50, a collection of entrepreneurial companies that are showing what it means to run good businesses, attack the most pressing problems of our time--and make serious cash along the way. ...   more »

...the odds are good that even as you observe this, your own ears are exploding in sound -- maybe the just-downloaded croonings of Bob Dylan's latest offering, a classic Philadelphia Orchestra symphony or an amateur "podcast" featuring a barroom-style discussion of last week's NFL games. Or perhaps your device is displaying a scene from last week's episode of "The Office." -- If so, you are tethered to one of the 60 million -- and counting fast -- iPod music players sold by Apple Computer in the last five years. And though it may seem you are doing it simply because you like the music and are pleased by the award-winning industrial design, you can congratulate yourself for participating in something a lot bigger than the tiny iPod: a revolution that has helped topple the idea that record labels, studios and broadcasters should set the terms for how and when you entertain yourself. Instead, Apple's ubiquuitous gadget has ushered in the era of shuffle. ...   more »

LONDON -- Unchecked global warming will devastate the world economy on the scale of the world wars and the Great Depression, a major British report said Monday. -- Introducing the report, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said unabated climate change would cost the world between five and 20 per cent of global gross domestic product each year. -- He called for "bold and decisive action" to cut carbon emissions and stem the worst of the temperature rise. -- Report author Sir Nicholas Stern, a senior government economist, said that acting now to cut greenhouse gas emissions would cost about one per cent of global GDP each year. -- "The evidence shows that ignoring climate change will eventually damage economic growth," said Stern's 700-page report, the first major effort to quantify the economic cost of climate change. ...   more »

Ok, this review convinced me. I'm going to order my own copy of this new book, created by Alex Steffen, the executive editor of the amazingly informative website "Worldchanging.com," which Rich alerted us to in a recent post to SCIY. ~ ron

...Part encyclopedia of socially conscious companies and movements, part picture-book (it includes gorgeous color photographs by leading photographers such as Edward Burtynsky), and part how-to instructions on becoming a greener consumer or business, the nearly 600-page volume is an invaluable resource you can use without booting up your computer... And to justify the dead trees required to produce the tome—and set a compelling example for readers—publisher Harry N. Abrams printed each copy on 100% recycled, chlorine-free paper. Abrams also purchased wind credits (from www.renewablechoice.com) equal to the amount of electricity needed to manufacture the book.   more »

I wonder if Auroville's planners are keeping up with the immensely creative work on urban design now underway around the world?

New York’s Van Alen Institute['s] The Good Life: New Public Spaces of Recreation, an exhibition at Hudson River Park’s Pier 40 showcasing dozens of projects either planned, under construction, or already realized that insert the rare combination of scenic refuge and pure pleasure into the hurly-burly of cities. “People are just desperate for these sites,” senior curator Zoë Ryan says. “Not everyone can escape the city during the summer, so this sort of destination has become increasingly important.” ...   more »

This article purports to be a truthful account of experiments in time travel (!) being undertaken at the esoteric research community called the Federation of Damanhur, located in the foothills of the Italian Alps in northern Italy, about 30 km. from Turin. I was sufficiently intriqued by reports like this to travel to Damanhur a few years ago, and subsequently live there for 6 months per year for three years. -- Since only advanced initiates are allowed to take part in or even witness these experiments, I can only say that I talked at length with the persons involved, credible professionals all, and they have personally attested to and expanded on their quoted experiences with great conviction. They appear to believe that they did in fact have the reported experiences. So, judge for yourself if you wish to admit this within your "doxa" of possibilites. ~ ron

...Gorilla and his colleagues went through months of complex preparations to enable them to achieve the necessary mastery over mind and body. Long sessions of hypnosis had instilled into them the complicated information needed to carry out the trips successfully, as well as the receptivity they would require for detailed recall of the environments in which they would find themselves. It is likely that even the most open-minded reader of this article will be tempted to dismiss its contents. The implications of the claims made by the members of the community of Damanhur, featured in the last issue of Kindred Spirit, that they have devised a system capable of propelling men and women across vast oceans of time, are staggering. ...   more »

I love the clouds… the clouds that pass… up there… up there… the wonderful clouds!” [The Stranger, Charles Baudelaire]    more »

This is a mind-boggling site. Don't be put off by its psychedelic style; this is serious stuff. Check out some of the links to Terence McKenna's books.

"For the Eschaton, positioned in eternity, all things are somehow coexistent in internal time or outside of time. All events have already happened. Shamanism is a formal technique for viewing this hyperdimensional object outside of time in a three-dimensional way, by transecting it many, many times until an entire picture of it emerges. ...

How can the archaic revival exist in an 'Interneted' planet of six, seven, eight, billion people? The answer is what is always the answer: through technology, through internal virtual reality, through internal nanotechnology. Eventually I want to see us end up in a place where we walk naked on a beach at sunset. We appear to be completely primitive people. Healthy, naked, no infrastructure, no cities, no nothing. -- But if you were suddenly to find yourself in the body of one of those people and close your eyes, you would see menus hanging in space. These are the menus of the culture: world news menus, world weather menus, latest menus. Talk to your friend on the other side of the planet. In other words, the Internet will become an integrated prosthesis of the human body. ...
- Terence McKenna    more »

SCIY now has its own domain. Please inform your friends and colleagues that they can now access SCIY at any of the three following addresses:

1) sciy.org

2) www.sciy.org

3) http://sciy.blogharbor.com

~ ron

I've taken the liberty of re-posting here all of the comments ("Replies") to Debashish's earlier posting: "Reflections on THE IDEAL OF HUMAN UNITY By Debashish Banerji." -- My reasons:

1) The set of responses in this thread was getting so large that we were starting to experience some oddities in BlogHarbor's reply functions.
2) I was concerned that we could delete the entire thread due to some technical or human error, thus losing this fascinating & important discussion.
3) By posting all of the comments as this article, we can go back in and re-format them if we wish; e.g., correcting typos & adding italics for quoted passages.

PLEASE CONTINUE OUR REPLIES ON THIS TOPIC HERE, IN THIS ARTICLE, NOT IN THE PREVIOUSLY POSTED ONE.

Thanks,
~ ron   more »

This is it. The entire text of the classic book "Brave New World," by Aldous Huxley. It's worth reading, or even re-reading if it's been awhile. ~ ron

A SQUAT grey building of only thirty-four stories. Over the main entrance the words, CENTRAL LONDON HATCHERY AND CONDITIONING CENTRE, and, in a shield, the World State's motto, COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY. -- The enormous room on the ground floor faced towards the north. Cold for all the summer beyond the panes, for all the tropical heat of the room itself, a harsh thin light glared through the windows, hungrily seeking some draped lay figure, some pallid shape of academic goose-flesh, but finding only the glass and nickel and bleakly shining porcelain of a laboratory. Wintriness responded to wintriness. The overalls of the workers were white, their hands gloved with a pale corpse-coloured rubber. The light was frozen, dead, a ghost. Only from the yellow barrels of the microscopes did it borrow a certain rich and living substance, lying along the polished tubes like butter, streak after luscious streak in long recession down the work tables. -- "And this," said the Director opening the door, "is the Fertilizing Room." ...   more »

Check out these remarkable automated construction systems. The Binishell System has already been used to construct over 1,500 buildings in 23 countries, at significantly less cost & time than conventional methods.

This web site deals with research and development in the use of automation in constructing building structures for a variety of purposes. The applications range from affordable housing, schools and shopping centers, etc., built in different countries of the world, to conceptual cities' infrastructures to be built from the sea floor or in deserts. Extra terrestrial projects where construction automation using applied physics and robotics are also envisioned and described herein. ...   more »

This is a fun and eye-opening site, sort of an update of the famous "Powers of 10." It's worth playing with.

View the Milky Way at 10 million light years from the Earth. Then move through space towards the Earth in successive orders of magnitude until you reach a tall oak tree just outside the buildings of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. After that, begin to move from the actual size of a leaf into a microscopic world that reveals leaf cell walls, the cell nucleus, chromatin, DNA and finally, into the subatomic universe of electrons and protons. ...   more »

I just received this note from Mona, an insightful long-term Aurovilian. I thought it sufficiently inspiring to post here.

We said one day with regards to the numerous groups that form and disappear almost immediately, that this phenomena of rapid decay is a result of the conventional and arbitrary factors which enter into the organization of these groups.
In fact, they are founded upon an ideal prototype originating from one or several minds - a formula which is sometimes very beautiful in theory, but which takes no account of the individuals who with their difficulties and weaknesses must form the living cells of the group.
In my opinion, it is impossible to give an arbitrary form to any being, individual or collective; its form can only be the outer expression which perfectly reflects the quality of its constituent elements. ...   more »

I just received this sobering post from my friend Savitra (Alan Lithman), author of "An Evolutionary Agenda for the Third Millennium."

Current global consumption levels could result in a large-scale ecosystem collapse by the middle of the century, environmental group WWF has warned. ...   more »

My friend Peter Oldfield, just sent me this reflection on the profound influence on our experience that can be wrought by the religious traditions embedded in our cultures. For more about Peter's mythopoetic work, see this previous SCIY article re his "World Memory Theatre" project.

   more »

On May 29, 2004, the 13th edition of the Digital Be-In beamed in to San Francisco. The annual cyber culture happening featured Ram Dass and Wavy Gravy, luminaries digital and beyond, exhibits, live bands, DJs and an immersive visual environment. The theme of the event was “The Transparent Network. -- Be-In 13’s many co-creators addressed The Transparent Network theme through speeches, a curated art gallery, exhibits and installations, a video theater, more than 20 performances on three stages and immersive projections throughout the venue. Like past Be-In memes — “Freedom of Speech on the Internet,” “Cultural Diversity in Cyberspace,” and “Human Rights in the Digital Age” — The Transparent Network idea refers to current technical initiatives and social issues. But it is also an emerging archetype with broader meanings, and these more esoteric dimensions were explored as well. ...   more »

Silicon Valley-based SunPower Corporation is looking to add a bit more juice to your rooftop, announcing its highest power and most efficient solar panel to date. The SPR-315 solar panel is based on the company's brand spankin' new Gen 2 solar cells, which have a rated power output of 315 watts and boast 22 percent photovoltaic (PV) efficiency -- that's opposed to the 7% to 17% common in most commercial PV systems. ...   more »

The WINDHUNTER SYSTEM concept is an offshore, floating system that uses several wind turbines for power output to produce hydrogen by electrolyzing water. This continuously manned, safe and stable system will be easily maintained on-board while relocating to the best wind conditions for the wind turbines. The produced hydrogen gas may be compressed and stored as gas or liquefied and placed in insulated tanks. The compressed gas or tanks of liquefied gas may be transferred by helicopter or surface ships with insulated containers. ...   more »

Could this be an option for quiet, non-polluting transportation for Auroville?

EPIC Technology – Electric Propulsion by Intelligent Control – uses Evader’s propriety technology and programming to create an ideal combination of performance and safety. -- Evader’s EPIC technology encompasses the design, motor, controller (patent pending), Hyper Drive and all safety components. Evader owns the world rights to manufacture and market their patented technology in all their electric vehicles. -- Evader’s cutting-edge technology is incorporated in all 2006 products giving the company a technological advantage over the competition. It offers unparalleled performance and sets Evader apart from all other electric motor scooters. -- Evader plans to incorporate its technology into electric motor scooters, motorcycles, ATVs, and other electric vehicles. ...   more »

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2006, divided into two equal parts, to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank for their efforts to create economic and social development from below. Lasting peace can not be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty. Micro-credit is one such means. Development from below also serves to advance democracy and human rights. ...   more »

The world - especially the Western United States, the Mediterranean region and Brazil - will likely suffer more extended droughts, heavy rainfalls and longer heat waves over the next century because of global warming, a new study forecasts. -- But the prediction of a future of nasty extreme weather also includes fewer freezes and a longer growing season. ...   more »

"We now have the largest ozone hole on record," said Craig Long of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The ozone layer girdles the Earth in the upper atmosphere, or stratosphere. It protects plants, animals and people by blocking harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. ...   more »

The growing doubts among GOP lawmakers about the administration's Iraq strategy, coupled with the prospect of Democratic wins in next month's midterm elections, will soon force the Bush administration to abandon its open-ended commitment to the war, according to lawmakers in both parties, foreign policy experts and others involved in policymaking. ...   more »

Joseph Kent is a poet living in San Francisco and closely connected with the Cultural Integration Fellowship. Like many others, he was profoundly influenced by Haridas Chaudhuri and introduced by him into the spiritual teachings and practice of Sri Aurobindo's yoga. Joseph's poetic sensibility approaches experiences of the everyday world in a mystic vein. The poems presented here cover a gamut of reflections ranging from meditations on nature to intimations of the supramental future and inward yogic illuminations.   more »

In this slim paperback, Robert Minor sets out with a double intention: (a) to tell the legal story of the power struggle between the Sri Aurobindo Society and Auroville; and (b) an exploration of the legal and cultural epistemological ambiguities surrounding the terms "religion", "spirituality" and "secularism" and their shaping of the discourse of modern political contestation in India, as exemplified in the story of Auroville.    more »

In the context of reaching the Western Governors' goal of 30,000 MWs of clean and diversified energy throughout the West by 2015, it is recognized that Indian Tribes control a vast renewable power potential, including the wind resource found across the western reservations, but that a comparative and appropriately tailored incentive is needed to encourage tribal development compatible with tribal aspirations, federal responsibilities and the financial realities of the existing energy system. ...   more »

Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have taken a step toward resolving the debate over whether compulsive use of the Internet merits a medical diagnosis, but opens many questions along the way. In a telephone-based study, the researchers found that more than one out of eight Americans exhibited at least one possible sign of problematic Internet use. ...   more »

The dwarf galaxy M32 probably crashed into the heart of Andromeda 210 million years ago, setting off shock waves that created two dusty rings, marked in blue and green (Image: NASA/JPL/P. Barmby/CfA) -- A two-decade-long riddle about the bizarre shape of the Milky Way's nearest spiral-shaped galaxy, Andromeda, has been solved, suggests a new study. ...   more »

Sony's new PlayStation 3 video game console offers pricey, cutting-edge tech. But serious rivals await, from Nintendo and Microsoft—and other platforms ...   more »

President George W. Bush signed legislation to allow the trial of suspected terrorists by military tribunals, and his administration immediately used the law to challenge suits by hundreds of Guantanamo Bay detainees. ...   more »

This is a good overview of the complex factors involved in the United States' necessary transition from fossil to renewable fuels. It includes the pivotal importance of Amory Lovins' proposals for increasing energy efficiency, often overlooked in articles like this. -- Highly recommended.

Thirty years of research at the private and government level, here and abroad, have produced a range of new technologies that can help turn abundant energy sources — wind, biomass, solar, even water itself — into alternative fuels. These fuels, in turn, can help keep our cars running and our power plants humming, while reducing both our reliance on unstable Middle Eastern oil producers and our contributions to dangerous climate change. ...   more »

... At our last meeting, Wang also spoke more about a subject Cui had brought up with me: how the rise of China and India throws up new challenges and possibilities with profound implications for the world at large. “Western societies have been on top for the last two centuries and shaped the world with the decisions they made,” he said. “China and India will now play equally crucial roles in the new century. But what will they be? I think it is very important for Chinese and Indian intellectuals not just to imitate the West. They have to explore alternatives to the Western model of modernity. Otherwise, the ‘consumer nationalists’ are already saying, ‘America was on top; now we are on top.”’ -- Wang laughed, and added, “This is not interesting.”   more »

Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and their Russian colleagues have discovered a long-sought and controversial "superheavy" element -- one that exists for only a tiny fraction of a second -- in experiments at a nuclear research center near Moscow, the Livermore team announced today. ...   more »

In an initiative to contribute significantly to the AIDS affected, two global brands - Apple Computer and Motorola, have come up with products in collaboration with RED, an organization founded by U2 lead singer, Bono, and Bobby Shriver to fight against AIDS in Africa. ...   more »

This looks like a good background reference for our ongoing discussion about "Evolution," in its cosmological, biological, and cultural forms. Video/audio files are included of many of the presentations by the well-known presenters.

Evolution is a central concept in many spheres of human endeavour, ranging from astrophysics and genetics to philosophy and psychology. Reflection about evolution is reflection about ourselves, our future and our place in the universe. -- In pursuit of the objectives set by the First World Conference on the Future of Science, we have chosen evolution as the theme of the Second Conference - a theme central to science and to society as a whole. -- The Second Venice Conference will bring together authorities of international renown from various disciplines to contribute their views and engage in debate with all participants. .. It is a Conference in which researchers and experts will interact with politicians, economists, managers, teachers, journalists and all women and men of culture, who wish to explore and debate the impact of concepts of evolution on our lives and take part in delineating a new role for science in tomorrow’s world. ...   more »