Date: July 19, 2025
Venue: Matriniketan
As part of the residential programme organized by Uditam: Institute for Integral Healing, Sri Aurobindo Society, Dr. Beloo Mehra, Director, BhāratShakti, was invited to facilitate a group discussion on Saturday, July 19, 2025. Most of the participants were teachers from two schools connected with Sri Aurobindo Society, for her session, Dr. Mehra focused on the topic – Sri Aurobindo as a Teacher.
Dr. Mehra began the session by sharing that Sri Aurobindo’s work as a teacher can be understood in several different ways – his work as a professor at Baroda College, his work as a world-teacher, and his work as a spiritual guru inviting us on an adventure of consciousness.
She spoke of a few instances representing each of these aspects and invited the participants to share their reflections on what insights or lessons we can draw from these anecdotes and observations. From the Baroda phase, she emphasised on Sri Aurobindo’s relationship with his students, his approach to teaching, the impact of his calm presence and the example he set before his students with his thirst for learning and progress. She shared the specific instance of K.M. Munshi’s experience with Sri Aurobindo – both in Baroda and also when he later met him at Pondicherry.
The voluminous written works that Sri Aurobindo has left for humanity constitute his work as a world-teacher, one who has opened an entirely new path of conscious evolution for anyone who is inwardly ready and is willing to surrender. With regard to Sri Aurobindo as a Guru, a question was asked about the place of humour in his interactions with the disciples. Dr. Mehra shared a few instances from Nirodbaran’s correspondence and talks with Sri Aurobindo in this regard. These reflections also led to a general discussion on the role of faith in a guru-shishya relationship.
The interactive nature of the session also brought in some related points about the need to situate all our works at Sri Aurobindo Society in the larger vision of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Two of the participants were from the Rupantar project of SAS, one of who was specifically working with special needs educators. Dr. Mehra spoke about how Project Inclusion can easily find its philosophical grounding in the educational vision of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, particuarly with regard to their emphasis on individualised approach to learning and recognising the necessity to allow each individual to blossom as per their inner capacities and development.