Sri Aurobindo's Savitri
Savitri is a great mythic poem and an archetypal expression of what is involved in humankind's potential self-fulfillment. It consists of underlying behavior patterns for a spiritually individuated life.
The Mother, Sri Aurobindo's spiritual collaborator goes so far as to contend that "it is the prophetic history of the earth, embodying in itself the fulfillment of man's life on earth" .
Campbell defined the symbol as "an energy evoking and directing agent" (1969/1990, p. 178). He approvingly quoted Thomas Merton, who observed that the "'true symbol'" awakens ... consciousness to a new awareness of the inner meaning of life and of reality by way of affective relationship to one's ... 'deepest self'" (quoted in Campbell, 1972/1973, p. 265). The true symbol, in other words, is a vehicle for the spiritual transformation of consciousness.
What is Savitri?
Sri Aurobindo's epic poem, Savitri, is a symbolic myth that responds to a deeply felt need in the contemporary mind. Not only does it represent a world view that is in harmony with the most recent understanding of scientific reality; but, as a symbol, it penetrates to the essential truth of that reality. It concomitantly describes what is involved in the fulfillment of a spiritually individuated life. This is the goal of Jung's myth of consciousness for our time. Not only is Savitri a vision for individual and collective self-fulfillment, but, as a mantra, it has a directly transformative effect on the inner consciousness. Such a magnificent poem calls for intelligent reflection.
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| Sri Aurobindo's Savitri |
The Mother, Sri Aurobindo's spiritual collaborator goes so far as to contend that "it is the prophetic history of the earth, embodying in itself the fulfillment of man's life on earth" .
Campbell defined the symbol as "an energy evoking and directing agent" (1969/1990, p. 178). He approvingly quoted Thomas Merton, who observed that the "'true symbol'" awakens ... consciousness to a new awareness of the inner meaning of life and of reality by way of affective relationship to one's ... 'deepest self'" (quoted in Campbell, 1972/1973, p. 265). The true symbol, in other words, is a vehicle for the spiritual transformation of consciousness.
What is Savitri?
Sri Aurobindo's epic poem, Savitri, is a symbolic myth that responds to a deeply felt need in the contemporary mind. Not only does it represent a world view that is in harmony with the most recent understanding of scientific reality; but, as a symbol, it penetrates to the essential truth of that reality. It concomitantly describes what is involved in the fulfillment of a spiritually individuated life. This is the goal of Jung's myth of consciousness for our time. Not only is Savitri a vision for individual and collective self-fulfillment, but, as a mantra, it has a directly transformative effect on the inner consciousness. Such a magnificent poem calls for intelligent reflection.
