Originally posted on sciy.org by Rich Carlson on Sat 22 Nov 2008 09:51 AM PST
Dear Rich Carlson-
Rumors that
I asked Jeff Kripal to write a "Freudian" study of Sri
Aurobindo are completely false, and Kripal has no intentions to do
so. But I am indeed deeply fascinated (and indebted) to Sri
Aurobindo, who remains the chief inspiration for my life work.
I discovered his writings in 1950, at Stanford University, as a
19-year old undergraduate and would not have started the Esalen
Institute without his inspiration.
Lately, I have been newly
inspired by Peter Heehs's magnifcent Aurobindo biography and by
the historic scholarship conducted by Heehs and Richard Hartz at the
Aurobindo Ashram Archives. Their work on Aurobindo's extraordinary
Record of Yoga will one day help revolutionize psychology and
transformative practice, and Heehs's book is bringing new awareness
of Sri Aurobindo to countless people worldwide. I hope that the
book's detractors will eventually come to appreciate the good it is
doing for the very cause they celebrate.
Peter Heehs and
Richard Hartz are expanding the frontiers of Aurobindo scholarship
with the courage and dedication that Aurobindo embodied and
recommended to us all.
Michael Murphy
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