News 2015

"In the world of forms a violation of Beauty is as great a fault as violation of Truth in the world of ideas. For Beauty is the worship Nature offers to the supreme Master of the universe; Beauty is the divine language in forms. And a consciousness of the Divine which is not translated externally by an understanding and expression of Beauty would be an incomplete consciousness."
The Mother

24 November: Darshan day - Day of Realisation This day was celebrated by the devotees at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, Nairobi. There was collective recitation of Sri Aurobindo's Gayatri Mantra followed by the reading of Mother's Prayer of October 23, 1937. The Darshan Message from the Ashram was read out and then there was half an hour meditation followed by prasad distribution. Copies of the Darshan Message were also given out.
20 November - The Mother's Samadhi Day
There was collective recitation of the invocation to the Divine Mother from Sri Aurobindo's Savitri followed by reading of Words of the Mother inscribed on the Sri Aurobindo's Samadhi, and half an hour meditation. Copies of the Darshan Message were distributed.
17 November: Darshan day - The Mother's withdrawal from the physical body
This day was observed at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, Nairobi. In the evening there was collective singing - an offering to The Mother followed by reading of The Mother's Prayer of January 11, 1915 and the Darshan Message. After that there was half an hour meditation.

9 November
Nairobi Centre presented sixty booklets in twelve different titles to Rhino Cement mentorship team who visited the Bhavan for a seminar on the teachings of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo. They appreciated all the knowledge they acquired by attending the seminar and from the booklets. - A child of The Mother also presented twenty five booklets in different titles to a renowned dental surgeon in Nairobi. The booklets will be kept in the reception area of the clinic.

23 October
Nairobi Centre presented 100 booklets of - Ideal Child, Ideal Parent, Ideal Teacher; 100 booklets of Ideal Child in Kiswahili and 50 booklets of Right Upbringing of Children to the ex-president of Nairobi Utumishi Club of Rotary. These booklets will be going to Meru School to be distributed among the children and teachers of the school. The remaining 4 volumes of the whole set of Sri Aurobindo's Works were also donated by a child of The Mother, Nairobi Centre. They will be put with the remaining volumes of the set which are in the Voi Library - a project of Utumishi Club.

17 October: A session in the Centre: ' Aim of life' - wonderful morning in the 'Sri Aurobindo Bhavan', Nairobi

2 September: Nairobi Centre of Sri Aurobindo Society presented 1200 booklets in 12 different titles to the marketing manager of Women Enterprise Fund, an organisation in Kenya which facilitate in gender and social development for the women. These booklets will be distributed countrywide as their officers go out to the field to empower women all over Kenya.

15 August
Darshan Day – Sri Aurobindo’s 143rd Birth Anniversary
Nairobi Centre of Sri Aurobindo Society celebrated this significant occasion at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, Nairobi starting with the recital of hymn in Sanskrit offered to Lord Sri Aurobindo. The Darshan message from Sri Aurobindo Ashram was read out. The devotees then recited Sri Aurobindo’s Gayatri Mantra followed by collective recital for half an hour of the Canto 3 – The Yoga of the King: The Yoga of the Soul’s Release from Book 1 of Savitri. Thereafter there was half an hour meditation accompanied by Sunilda’s music. There was Prasad distribution and everyone received copy of the Darshan message. There were twenty six devotees present.

7 August : Nairobi Centre of Sri Aurobindo Society presented:
1. 1500 booklets on ‘Ideal Child, Ideal Parent, Ideal Teacher’ to the past president and member of Rotary Utumishi Club, Nairobi. These booklets are to be distributed among the students and the teachers in the school in one of the slum areas in Nairobi, Kibera. This school is built by tin containers with the help of Grey Matter Kenya; which works diligently for the education of the poor society in the country.

2. 2500 booklets in twelve different titles for the medical camp in Kirinyaga, Kenya which is to be conducted by the past district governor of Nairobi North Rotary Club. More than 3000 people are expected for this medical camp.

13 July
12th Anniversary of the enshrinement of Sri Aurobindo’s Relics
Nairobi Centre of Sri Aurobindo Society celebrated this significant event at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, Sri Aurobindo Avenue, Nairobi.
The devotees gathered in the relics house and collectively recited Canto 4 – The Vision and the Boon of Book 3 – The Book of the Divine Mother from Sri Aurobindo’s epic poem – Savitri.
This was followed by prasad dinner. There were eleven participants present on this occasion.

19 June:
Nairobi Centre presented 3600 booklets in 12 different titles to Ms. Catherine and Ms. Anne representing the Chief University Librarian of Kenyatta University, Main Campus, Nairobi, at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan. The booklets will be kept in the libraries of the ten campus of the university throughout Kenya. This university is one of the largest university in Kenya. The chief librarian thanked Sri Aurobindo Society for the booklets and said that they will come extremely useful to the students and the lecturers of the university.

27 June
Nairobi Centre of SAS presented 2400 booklets in 12 different titles at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, Nairobi to the acting national co-ordinator of The Kenya Scouts Association which works for the youth development throughout Kenya. The acting national co-ordinator gave his gratitude to Sri Aurobindo Society and he said that booklets like ‘Aim of Life’, ‘Ideal Child, Ideal Parent, Ideal Teacher’ prove to be extremely helpful for the young scouts, especially Ideal Child where the Mother has given guidance in simple language of how to be an ideal child.

01 May:
Nairobi Centre of SAS presented 1200 booklets in 12 different titles to the Chief Social Welfare Officer of the Kenya Prisons at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan on 27th April 2015. She was accompanied by her colleagues. These booklets will be distributed among the inmates, prisoners’ counsellors and the staff in various prisons throughout Kenya. The Commissioner General of Prisons has sent a letter of appreciation to Sri Aurobindo Society for the booklets.
240 booklets in 12 different titles were presented to the secretary of one of the doctors of Aga Khan Doctors’ Plaza who will distribute them throughout the reception areas of the doctors’ in the plaza.

24 April Darshan Day - Mother's Final Arrival in Pondicherry
This significant day was observed by the devotees of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, Nairobi. The Mother’s prayer, Darshan Message from Sri Aurobindo Ashram were read out followed by chanting of ‘Om’ twelve times. There was collective recitation of the mantra – Aum Anandmayee, Chaitnayamayee, Satyamayee Parme’ and of the mantric lines from Savitri – “At the head she stands of birth and toil and fate…..” There was collective meditation for half an hour followed by distribution of Prasad and copies of the Darshan Message.

22 April: President of Rotary Utumishi Club visited Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, Nairobi. Nairobi Centre of Sri Aurobindo Society presented her with total of 2600 booklets in 12 different titles. 240 booklets will be distributed at Meru medical camp and 2400 booklets will be distributed at Kisumu medical camp where about 3000 people will be getting free medical treatments.
The president of the club expressed her gratitude to Sri Aurobindo Society for the booklets which she said are greatly appreciated by all who have been receiving them in the past from the Rotary Utumishi Club.

10 April: PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI PAYS HOMAGE TO SRI AUROBINDO IN PARIS. PM Narendra Modi arrived at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) headquarters at Place de Fontenoy, Paris, where he paid floral tributes at the bronze statue of Sri Aurobindo before addressing the gathering of dignitaries.
In his speech, he again referred to Sri Aurobindo and his teachings, saying: “Outside this hall, I paid respect at the statue of a great Indian philosopher and sage, Sri Aurobindo.
There is much that we can learn from his humanism and spiritualism, from his belief in the unity of individual consciousness with the world outside; the enlightened purpose of education; the service of science; and, the unity of world, founded on national freedom, diversity of civilizations and autonomy of culture.”
This reference can be viewed in the following link at 50 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbl7dfwGEpU

23 March:
The chief librarian, Ms Caroline Gathuru, of The Nairobi Hospital visited Sri Aurobindo Bhavan. She was presented with 1200 booklets in 12 different titles from the Nairobi Centre of Sri Aurobindo Society. The booklets will be kept in patients’ wards, library of School of Nursing of the hospital, reception area and in out-patients clinic. Some of the booklets will be distributed among the doctors and the staff. The Nairobi Hospital is one of the largest hospitals in Kenya.

12 March:
Nairobi Centre presented 1200 booklets in 12 different titles to the Lecturer of Communications working in the National Youth Service School of Business and Commerce Studies. There are about 800 students in the college. The booklets will be kept in the library and distributed among the staff. The lecturer was grateful for the booklets and was sure these booklets will be very useful for the youth in their character development and giving them the right guidance for their future.

24 February:
The Director and Secretary of Eastleigh Community Centre which is run by P.C.E.A. Church visited Nairobi Centre of SAS. This community centre has about 250 destitute from Kenya and from refugee camps. It has about 20 teaching staff. It provides primary and secondary education as well as vocational skills for the young men and women. Nairobi Centre presented 1200 booklets in 12 different titles to the director. He expressed his gratitude for these booklets which he said will help the students in their character building and to restore lost hope and faith in them. The booklets – Faith in the Divine, Significance of Prayers, Aim of Life will especially help all those ones who have gone through war-torn and traumatic experiences in their young lives. The booklets will be distributed among the senior students, the teaching staff and the counsellors of the centre.

21 February: Darshan Day - 137th Birth Anniversary of The Mother
Nairobi Centre of SAS observed this day with readings of The Mother's Prayer of November 22, 1913 and the Darshan Message from Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Then the devotees present listened to the CD with The Mother's voice reading 'Four Aspects of The Mother' by Sri Aurobindo. Everyone present received a copy of the Darshan Message and prasad thereafter.

10 February: Nairobi Centre of SAS presented following amount of booklets to the President of Nairobi Utumishi Rotary Club: - 300 booklets in 12 different titles for Milimani Rotary Club, 300 booklets in 12 different titles for Kisumu Rotary Club. These booklets will be distributed among the club members;
- 600 booklets on ‘Ideal Child, Ideal Parent, Ideal Teacher’ to Muguga Green City Council School. The booklets will be distributed among the students and the teachers.

1 February: 4000 booklets on ‘Ideal Child, Ideal Parent, Ideal Teacher’ were presented to a senior official of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (Kenya) by Nairobi Centre of SAS.
One of the activities of the organization is to distribute books and magazines for the enlightenment of citizens in general. These booklets will be distributed in eight schools in the rural areas by the chairperson of the organization and report on the distribution will be presented to the chairman of the Nairobi Centre.

26 January
Nairobi Centre of Sri Aurobindo Society presented 1650 booklets in 11 different titles to a senior Rotarian official of Rotary Utumishi Club, Kenya. These booklets will be presented by the president of Rotary Utumishi Club to the following three branches of Rotary Club, Kenya: Kikuyu Rotary Club, Hurlingham Rotary Club and Muthaiga Rotary Club.
The booklets will be distributed among the officials of the branches.

10 January: Nairobi Centre of SAS presented following booklets to the President of Nairobi Utumishi Club: 30 booklets of ‘Ideal Child, Ideal Parent and Ideal Teacher’, 30 booklets of ‘Ideal Child’ in Kiswahili for the Maasai School children, 1200 booklets in 12 different titles for the Eldoret Medical Camp, 50 booklets of ‘Ideal Child, Ideal Parent, Ideal Teacher’, 50 booklets of ‘Ideal Child’ in Kiswahili for Brookside City Council Primary School.

1 January
28 members of Nairobi Centre of SAS welcomed the New Year with readings of Mother’s Prayer of 1st January 1914, Darshan Message sent by Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Puducherry and collective recitation of Sri Aurobindo’s Gayatri Mantra. There was half an hour meditation and distribution of copies of Darshan Message, The Mother’s calendars of 2015 and Prasad..