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Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian yogi, maharishi, and Indian nationalist. He also edited the newspaper Bande Mataram.
Aurobindo studied for the Indian Civil Service at King's College, in Cambridge, England. After returning to India, he took up various civil service works under the Maharaja of the princely state of Baroda. He became increasingly involved in nationalist politics in the Indian National Congress and the nascent revolutionary movement in Bengal with the Anushilan Samiti. He was arrested in the aftermath of a number of bombings linked to his organisation in a public trial where he faced charges of treason for Alipore Conspiracy and then released, after which he moved to Pondicherry and developed a spiritual practice he called Integral Yoga. He wrote The Life Divine, which deals with the philosophical aspect of Integral Yoga and Synthesis of Yoga, which deals with the principles and methods of Integral Yoga. In 1926, he and Mira Alfassa founded Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
Aurobindo Ghose was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Bengal Presidency, India on 15 August 1872 in a Bengali Kayastha family that was associated with the town of Konnagar in the Hooghly district of present-day West Bengal. His father, Krishna Dhun Ghose, was an assistant surgeon in Rangpur and later a civil surgeon in Khulna. A former member of the Brahmo Samaj, he became fascinated with the new theory of evolution while studying medicine in Edinburgh. His mother Swarnalata Devi's father, Rajnarayan Bose, was a leading figure in the Brahmo Samaj. Swarnalata Devi was sent to Calcutta for Aurobindo's birth for its healthier environment. Aurobindo had two elder siblings, Benoybhusan and Manmohan, a younger sister, Sarojini, and a younger brother, Barindra Kumar (also referred to as Barin).
Aurobindo spoke English but used Hindustani to communicate with servants. Although his family was Bengali, his father believed British culture to be superior. He and his two elder siblings were sent to the English-speaking Loreto House boarding school in Darjeeling, in part to improve their language skills and in part to distance them from their mother, who had developed a mental illness soon after the birth of her first child. Darjeeling was a centre of Anglo-Indians in India, and the school was run by Irish nuns, through which the boys would have been exposed to Christian religious teachings and symbolism.
Krishna Dhun Ghose wanted his sons to enter the Indian Civil Service (ICS), an elite organisation comprising around 1000 people. To achieve this, they needed to study in England, and so it was there that the entire family moved in 1879. The three brothers were placed in the care of the Reverend W. H. Drewett in Manchester. Drewett was a minister of the Congregational Church whom Krishna Dhun Ghose knew through his British friends at Rangpur.
The boys were taught Latin by Drewett and his wife. This was a prerequisite for admission to good English schools, and after two years, in 1881, the elder two siblings were enrolled at Manchester Grammar School. Aurobindo was considered too young for enrollment, and he continued his studies with the Drewetts, learning history, Latin, French, geography, and arithmetic. Although the Drewetts were told not to teach religion, the boys inevitably were exposed to Christian teachings and events, which generally bored Aurobindo and sometimes repulsed him. There was little contact with his father, who wrote only a few letters to his sons while they were in England, but what communication there was indicated that he was becoming less endeared to the British in India than he had been, on one occasion describing the British colonial government as "heartless".
Drewett emigrated to Australia in 1884, causing the boys to be uprooted as they went to live with Drewett's mother in London. In September of that year, Aurobindo and Manmohan joined St Paul's School there. He learned Greek and spent the last three years reading literature and English poetry, while he also acquired some familiarity with the German and Italian languages; Peter Heehs summarised his linguistic abilities by stating that at "the turn of the century he knew at least twelve languages: English, French, and Bengali to speak, read, and write; Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit to read and write; Gujarati, Marathi, and Hindi to speak and read; and Italian, German, and Spanish to read." Being exposed to the evangelical strictures of Drewett's mother developed in him a distaste for religion, and he considered himself at one point to be an atheist but later determined that he was agnostic. A blue plaque unveiled in 2007 commemorates Aurobindo's residence at 49 St Stephen's Avenue in Shepherd's Bush, London, from 1884 to 1887. The three brothers began living in spartan circumstances at the Liberal Club in South Kensington during 1887, their father having experienced some financial difficulties. The club's secretary was James Cotton, brother of their father's friend in the Bengal ICS, Henry John Stedman Cotton.
By 1889, Manmohan had determined to pursue a literary career, and Benoybhusan had proved himself unequal to the standards necessary for ICS entrance. This meant that only Aurobindo might fulfill his father's aspirations, but to do so when his father lacked money required that he study hard for a scholarship. To become an ICS official, students were required to pass the competitive examination and study at an English university for two years under probation. Aurobindo secured a scholarship at King's College, Cambridge, under the recommendation of Oscar Browning. He passed the written ICS examination after a few months and ranked 11th out of 250 competitors. He spent the next two years at King's College. Aurobindo had no interest in the ICS and came to the horse-riding practical exam purposefully to disqualify him for the service.In 1891, Sri Aurobindo also felt that a period of great upheaval for his motherland was coming in which he was destined to play an important role. He began to learn Bengali and joined a secret society, romantically named 'Lotus and Dagger', where the members took an oath to work for India's freedom.
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Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian yogi, maharishi, and Indian nationalist. He also edited the newspaper Bande Mataram.
Aurobindo studied for the Indian Civil Service at King's College, in Cambridge, England. After returning to India, he took up various civil service works under the Maharaja of the princely state of Baroda. He became increasingly involved in nationalist politics in the Indian National Congress and the nascent revolutionary movement in Bengal with the Anushilan Samiti. He was arrested in the aftermath of a number of bombings linked to his organisation in a public trial where he faced charges of treason for Alipore Conspiracy and then released, after which he moved to Pondicherry and developed a spiritual practice he called Integral Yoga. He wrote The Life Divine, which deals with the philosophical aspect of Integral Yoga and Synthesis of Yoga, which deals with the principles and methods of Integral Yoga. In 1926, he and Mira Alfassa founded Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
Aurobindo Ghose was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Bengal Presidency, India on 15 August 1872 in a Bengali Kayastha family that was associated with the town of Konnagar in the Hooghly district of present-day West Bengal. His father, Krishna Dhun Ghose, was an assistant surgeon in Rangpur and later a civil surgeon in Khulna. A former member of the Brahmo Samaj, he became fascinated with the new theory of evolution while studying medicine in Edinburgh. His mother Swarnalata Devi's father, Rajnarayan Bose, was a leading figure in the Brahmo Samaj. Swarnalata Devi was sent to Calcutta for Aurobindo's birth for its healthier environment. Aurobindo had two elder siblings, Benoybhusan and Manmohan, a younger sister, Sarojini, and a younger brother, Barindra Kumar (also referred to as Barin).
Aurobindo spoke English but used Hindustani to communicate with servants. Although his family was Bengali, his father believed British culture to be superior. He and his two elder siblings were sent to the English-speaking Loreto House boarding school in Darjeeling, in part to improve their language skills and in part to distance them from their mother, who had developed a mental illness soon after the birth of her first child. Darjeeling was a centre of Anglo-Indians in India, and the school was run by Irish nuns, through which the boys would have been exposed to Christian religious teachings and symbolism.
Krishna Dhun Ghose wanted his sons to enter the Indian Civil Service (ICS), an elite organisation comprising around 1000 people. To achieve this, they needed to study in England, and so it was there that the entire family moved in 1879. The three brothers were placed in the care of the Reverend W. H. Drewett in Manchester. Drewett was a minister of the Congregational Church whom Krishna Dhun Ghose knew through his British friends at Rangpur.
The boys were taught Latin by Drewett and his wife. This was a prerequisite for admission to good English schools, and after two years, in 1881, the elder two siblings were enrolled at Manchester Grammar School. Aurobindo was considered too young for enrollment, and he continued his studies with the Drewetts, learning history, Latin, French, geography, and arithmetic. Although the Drewetts were told not to teach religion, the boys inevitably were exposed to Christian teachings and events, which generally bored Aurobindo and sometimes repulsed him. There was little contact with his father, who wrote only a few letters to his sons while they were in England, but what communication there was indicated that he was becoming less endeared to the British in India than he had been, on one occasion describing the British colonial government as "heartless".
Drewett emigrated to Australia in 1884, causing the boys to be uprooted as they went to live with Drewett's mother in London. In September of that year, Aurobindo and Manmohan joined St Paul's School there. He learned Greek and spent the last three years reading literature and English poetry, while he also acquired some familiarity with the German and Italian languages; Peter Heehs summarised his linguistic abilities by stating that at "the turn of the century he knew at least twelve languages: English, French, and Bengali to speak, read, and write; Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit to read and write; Gujarati, Marathi, and Hindi to speak and read; and Italian, German, and Spanish to read." Being exposed to the evangelical strictures of Drewett's mother developed in him a distaste for religion, and he considered himself at one point to be an atheist but later determined that he was agnostic. A blue plaque unveiled in 2007 commemorates Aurobindo's residence at 49 St Stephen's Avenue in Shepherd's Bush, London, from 1884 to 1887. The three brothers began living in spartan circumstances at the Liberal Club in South Kensington during 1887, their father having experienced some financial difficulties. The club's secretary was James Cotton, brother of their father's friend in the Bengal ICS, Henry John Stedman Cotton.
By 1889, Manmohan had determined to pursue a literary career, and Benoybhusan had proved himself unequal to the standards necessary for ICS entrance. This meant that only Aurobindo might fulfill his father's aspirations, but to do so when his father lacked money required that he study hard for a scholarship. To become an ICS official, students were required to pass the competitive examination and study at an English university for two years under probation. Aurobindo secured a scholarship at King's College, Cambridge, under the recommendation of Oscar Browning. He passed the written ICS examination after a few months and ranked 11th out of 250 competitors. He spent the next two years at King's College. Aurobindo had no interest in the ICS and came to the horse-riding practical exam purposefully to disqualify him for the service.In 1891, Sri Aurobindo also felt that a period of great upheaval for his motherland was coming in which he was destined to play an important role. He began to learn Bengali and joined a secret society, romantically named 'Lotus and Dagger', where the members took an oath to work for India's freedom.