Sri Aurobindo Divine Life Education Center

Sri Aurobindo incarnated in a human body the supramental consciousness and has not only revealed to us the nature of the path to follow and the method of following it so as to arrive at the goal, but has also by his own personal realisation given us the example; he has provided us, so to say, the proof that the thing can be done and the time is now to do it. (The Mother)

Background

Sri Aurobindo Divine Life Education Centre (SADLEC), an autonomous wing of Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry, formally came into existence in 1994 but its bedrock of solid foundation had been already prepared by Sri Aurobindo Vidya Mandir (SAVM) which has been functioning as an institution of Integral Education since 1984. The SAVM was established by Sri Aurobindo Divine Life Trust — a public charitable trust established by some devotees for the fulfillment of Sri Aurobindo’s vision of a divine life for humanity — with an aspiration to create a place where the experiment of Integral Education may be carried out untouched by the rampant utilitarian and materialistic spirit. Since the SAVM was conceived to be an integral education institution, no government recognition was sought for it. It was mainly a daytime school with local students only from families with ordinary motives for education. Still the SAVM got a good number of sincere students, some of whom have stayed on to pursue the Sadhana of Integral Yoga. From the very beginning the teachers were mostly Sadhaks who were sincerely devoted to the life of Sadhana. As the institution became well known for the intensity of its atmosphere and the quality of its education, more and more potential aspirants of divine life came into contact and felt inspired to consecrate their lives to the service of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Thus a need was gradually felt to enlarge the circle of educational activities around the base of a self-contained spiritual community working in various fields and dimensions for the realization of Sri Aurobindo’s vision of a divine life upon earth. The need became an aspiration and the Mother’s grace answered to it by the formation of the SADLEC in 1994.

The Mother’s grace took up the work of erecting the structure of the SADLEC on the solid ground prepared by the SAVM in its 10 years of functioning. Without in any way confining the sphere of its future activities the initial effort here was aimed at developing a living and vibrant spiritual atmosphere where children could stay full time and thus be free from any other influence and could grow in the truth of their being. From a wider angle the objects of the SADLEC constitute all those spheres of action which are necessary for the transformation of earthly life into divine life. Since its beginning the SADLEC has been continuously growing and enlarging its scope of activities according to the inner guidance and inspiration.

Legal Status

The Sri Aurobindo Divine Life Education Centre is an autonomous wing of Sri Aurobindo Society. The Society is registered in Calcutta under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860 (now West Bengal Act XXVI of 1961).

All donations to Sri Aurobindo Divine Life Education Centre will qualify for tax exemption under Section 80G as a charitable institution. The Centre will also be engaged in various research activities in Social Sciences, specially integral education. Donations to the Centre for research activities qualify for tax exemption under Section 35(1)(iii) of the Income Tax Act and are 100% tax exempt.

The Need of the Hour

The recent developments leading to the present condition of the world may be looked upon as the speeding up of the process of the breaking-up of the past which is indispensable to the manifestation of the “new world” that was born with the Supramental Manifestation which took place in 1956. All the religions, socioeconomic systems, political “isms” and dogmas seem to be loosing their hold over the progressive human mind which seems now to have become plastic and volatile to an extent that could not have been imagined even a few years ago. The recognition that the old remedies are of no avail, that the lights that have guided man so far are failing him seems now to be fairly widespread. It is becoming obvious that a mere change in the form of government or even in the social or economic system is not going to help man in any way. The proposition that our problems spring basically from the present state of our consciousness has begun to receive recognition in recent years. For example, Ervin Laszlo writes in his book, The Inner Limits of Mankind: “There are hardly any world problems that cannot be traced to human agency and which could not be overcome by appropriate changes in human behaviour. The root cause even of physical and ecological problems are the inner constraints on our Vision and Values…….. We contemplate changing almost anything on this earth but ourselves.”

The awareness that what is required is not a surface sentimental, moral, religious or idealistic tinkering with the nature of man but a fundamental change in it is also gaining ground. But such a thing can be accomplished only by an ascension to a higher level of consciousness and that may look like an endeavour too high and for man as he is at present, too difficult and distant. However, as Sri Aurobindo tells us, no matter how difficult and distant it may appear, it still remains the sole possibility for a true resolution of all our problems. Moreover, with the Supramental Manifestation in the terrestrial nature, the task has become much less troublesome and distant. As Sri Aurobindo says, “As far as I can see, once the supramental is established in Matter, the transformation will be possible under much less troublesome conditions than now are there. These bad conditions are due to the fact that the Ignorance is in possession and the hostile Powers an established authority, as it were, who do not care to give up their hold and there is no full force of Light established in the earth-consciousness which would not only meet but outweigh their full force of darkness.” The Supramental Manifestation has changed this equation.

The terrestrial evolution has so far proceeded under the pressure of nature without any conscious participation of the beings drawn along this evolution. But man has now attained a position of full responsibility and can consciously collaborate with nature. The next step would therefore be conscious and deliberate and may be relatively swift, for a new being will be evolved in man, rather than out of man.

“Therefore the individuals who will most help the future of humanity in the new age will be those who will recognise a spiritual evolution as the destiny and therefore the great need of the human being. Even as the animal man has been largely converted into a mentalised and at the top a highly mentalised humanity, so too now or in the future an evolution or conversion — it does not greatly matter which figure we use or what theory we adopt to support it — of the present type of humanity into a spiritualised humanity is the need of the race and surely the intention of Nature; that evolution or conversion will be their ideal and endeavour.”

All our problems are essentially problems of consciousness. This evolutionary world seems to be so planned as to have a built-in incentive for rising into ever higher and higher levels of consciousness. The problems, difficulties or just the limitations at any given level of consciousness — and they are different at different levels – can be really solved only at a higher level. One’s state of consciousness determines the limitations or conditions in which one lives. One can rise above them only by ascending to a higher level of consciousness.

“The conditions in which men live on earth are the result of their state of consciousness. To seek to change these conditions without changing the consciousness is a vain chimera. Those who have been able to perceive what could and ought to be done to improve the situation in the various domains of human life — economic, political, social, financial, educational and sanitary — are individuals who have, to a greater or lesser extent, developed their consciousness in an exceptional way and put themselves in contact with higher planes of consciousness. But their ideas have remained more or less theoretical or, if an attempt has been made to realise them practically, it has always failed lamentably after a certain period of time; for no human organisation can change radically unless human consciousness itself changes. Prophets of a new humanity have followed one another; religions, spiritual or social, have been created; their beginnings have sometimes been promising, but as humanity has not been fundamentally transformed, the old errors arising from human nature itself have gradually reappeared and after some time we find ourselves almost back at the point we had started from with so much hope and enthusiasm. Also, in this effort to improve human conditions, there have always been two tendencies, which seem to be contrary but which ought to complement each other so that progress may be achieved. The first advocates a collective reorganisation, something which could lead to the effective unity of mankind. The other declares that all progress is made first by the individual and insists that the individual should be given the conditions in which he can progress freely. Both are equally true and necessary, and our effort should be directed along both these lines at once. For collective progress and individual progress are interdependent. Before the individual can take a leap forward, at least a little of the preceding progress must have been realised in the collectivity. A way must therefore be found so that these two types of progress may proceed side by side.

It is in answer to this urgent need that Sri Aurobindo conceived the scheme of his international university, in order to prepare the human elite who will be able to work for the progressive unification of mankind and be ready at the same time to embody the new force which is descending to transform the earth.”

The Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education at Pondicherry came into being on 6th January 1952 and has been doing pioneering work ever since. It has been the beacon of light for all those who aspire for a divine life for humanity. We feel that the time has come for this light to spread and grow so that the future humanity may be prepared to embody the integral spiritual ideal.

Objects

The basic object of the Sri Aurobindo Divine Life Education Centre shall be to work for the realisation of Sri Aurobindo’s and the Mother’s vision of a Divine Life for humanity. More specifically, but without in any way limiting the generality of the basic object, the Institution shall in the immediate future work for:

1. the realisation of human unity in a rich and organised diversity;
2. the establishment of the Integral Spiritual Ideal as the governing ideal of the human race;
3. a smooth transition of humanity from the present system to a system more suited to a spiritual age;
4. The creation of a Spiritual Society where every aspect of life will be taken up and perfected on a spiritual foundation.

For an effective pursuit of the above goals the Institution shall seek:

1. to establish a research and education centre which shall carry out research and provide education from the prenatal to the postgraduate and advanced levels. The proposed institution will be essentially an educational research setup organised with the objective of evolving, realising and providing education by a most perfect possible system of Integral Education as outlined by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.
2. to bring together and organise a community of spiritual aspirants, with an inner core consisting of seekers who wish to cast off from themselves the slavery to the human ways of thinking and doing. Such a community will be international in character and spirit and conduct itself in such a way as to contribute to the development of the sense of oneness of all mankind. It will be above all distinctions of class, caste, creed, religion, sex and nationality and shall form the nucleus of the proposed educational institution which will depend on it for the supply of needed teachers, researchers and workers. It is hoped that such an experiment in collective living will serve as a powerful “example” and “influence” to help usher in the spiritual age of mankind.
3. to organise social science and research aimed at tracing out the path of transition from the present system to the one suited to a spiritual age of mankind.
4. to evolve, at a mature stage of its development, a setup for a systematic research in the process of the Spirit’s mastery over Matter in the terrestrial evolution.
5. to undertake research, training and exposure programmes, to organise conferences, seminars, work­shops, etc. in all fields of knowledge and human endeavour.
6. to undertake publication of books and periodicals, to prepare audio-cassettes, video-cassettes and other audio-visual aids, educational games and toys, etc. and to do all else in this field that may be conducive to the attainment of its basic object.
7. to collaborate, associate or join with other trusts or societies or institutions whose objects and/or activities may be in harmony with the objectives of the Institution.
8. to do all such things as are incidental or necessary to the attainment of all or any of the specific objects of the Institution.