“Book Descriptions: About The Renaissance in India and Other Essays on Indian Culture A defence of Indian civilisation and culture, with essays on Indian spirituality, religion, art, literature, and polity. Sri Aurobindo began the 'Foundations' series as an appreciative review of Sir John Woodroffe's book, 'Is India Civilised?', continued it with a rebuttal of the hostile criticisms of William Archer in 'India and Its Future', and concluded it with his own estimation of India's civilisation and culture. In Sri Aurobindo's view India is one of the greatest of the world's civilisations because of its high spiritual aim and the effective manner in which it has impressed this aim on the forms and rhythms of its life. "A spiritual aspiration was the governing force of this culture", he wrote, "its core of thought, its ruling passion. Not only did it make spirituality the highest aim of life, but it even tried...to turn the whole of life towards spirituality." Sri Aurobindo held that an aggressive defence of India culture was necessary to counter the invasion of the predominantly materialistic modern Western culture. His Foundations is precisely such a defence. Part The Issue; Is India Civilised?; Part A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture; Part A Defence of Indian Culture; Indian Culture and External Influence; The Renaissance in India. Indology, Philosophy, Religion, Political Thought, Art, Literature. Extract A true happiness in this world is the right terrestrial aim of man, and true happiness lies in the finding and maintenance of a natural harmony of spirit, mind and body. A culture is to be valued to the extent to which it has discovered the right key of this harmony and organised its expressive motives and movements. And a civilisation must be judged by the manner in which all its principles, ideas, forms, ways of living work to bring that harmony out, manage its rhythmic play and secure its continuance or the development of its motives. A civilisation in pursuit of this aim may be predominantly material like modern European culture, predominantly mental and intellectual like the old Graeco-Roman or predominantly spiritual like the still persistent culture of India. India's central conception is that of the Eternal, the Spirit here incased in matter, involved and immanent in it and evolving on the material plane by rebirth of the individual up the scale of being till in mental man it enters the world of ideas and realm of conscious morality, dharma. This achievement, this victory over unconscious matter develops its lines, enlarges its scope, elevates its levels until the increasing manifestation of the sattwic or spiritual portion of the vehicle of mind enables the individual mental being in man to identify himself with the pure spiritual consciousness beyond Mind. India's social system is built upon this conception; her philosophy formulates it; her religion is an aspiration to the spiritual consciousness and its fruits; her art and literature have the same upward look; her whole Dharma or law of being is founded upon it. Progress she admits, but this spiritual progress, not the externally self-unfolding process of an always more and more prosperous and efficient material civilisation. It is her founding of life upon this exalted conception and her urge towards the spiritual and the eternal that constitute the distinct value of her civilisation. And it is her fidelity, with whatever human shortcomings, to this highest ideal that has made her people a nation apart in the human world (p.2) T” DRIVE
Read Ebook 
