Soumitra Basu
Doctor
Articles by Soumitra Basu (114)
The metaphysical basis for Integral Health — divine life
By Soumitra Basu - Apr 24, 2014
It is difficult to conceive the connotation of ‘divine life’. Ordinarily it would signify a life steeped in spirituality or religionism with a certain aloofness from materialistic pursuits. It would encourage a dwelling in the realm of high ideals. Indeed, such a divine life would be based on a eulogising of virtues, a glorification of ethical ideals and a rejection of all that constitutes ‘sin’. It would reject the pleasures of hedonism for an austere coldness or else for a religious ecstasy. It would be the rule of the pious, the preacher and the puritan. It would reject the sinner, the rebel, the anarchist. To be justified, it would reject the ordinary human being subject to the petty needs, the small desires, the selfish attachments and the mundane joys of earthly life. A ‘divine life’ thus constituted would have not accommodated science per se except for applications that would serve its purpose. Such a ‘divine life’ would be suitable for a handful of aspirants with the rest of the world immersed in filth and mire, enmeshed in falsehood and suffering, burdened with ignorance and crowned with death. Or else, the ‘divine life’ would have to be sought away from the earth in some elusive paradise.
The body beautiful
By Soumitra Basu - Apr 24, 2013
Sri Aurobindo has warned that if mankind did not evolve further in consciousness, a resurgence of a primitive barbarism would be possible. We see the impending danger around us. The human body has been enriched due to the presence of the soul and this makes it vulnerable to attacks by adverse forces. A radical change in our attitude to the body is needed which should be trained to respond to a higher will and determinism. This needs to be poised in the psychic consciousness (the soul-essence).
The metaphysical basis for Integral Health — the fourfold nature of the Self
By Soumitra Basu - Apr 24, 2013
Sri Aurobindo. Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library, Volume 12. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust; 1971.
The metaphysical basis for Integral Health — Yoga and health
By Soumitra Basu - Apr 24, 2012
Why do we need a distinct paradigm of health based on Integral Yoga? Before reflecting on this question, we have to consider a basic postulate, why do we need a yoga perspective of health at all? Sri Aurobindo describes yoga as “a methodised effort towards self-perfection” that proceeds along two dimensions:
The metaphysical foundation of Integral Health
By Soumitra Basu - Apr 24, 2011
In the second and third chapters of The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo dwells upon the materialistic basis of Western culture, vis-à-vis the ascetic dimension in Eastern culture. It is necessary to understand the differentiation to construct a greater and fulfilling Matter-Spirit synthesis. It is also interesting that this differentiation helps us to understand the different perspectives of health and well-being in the East and the West.