Synopsis "Inspiration from Savitri: Love and Light (in English)"
The series of books, Inspiration from Savitri, is a compilation of selected passages from Savitri, themes that I have chosen because they resonate most strongly within me. This method of approach enables one to read only a few lines at a time, meditate on them and allow their mantric force to enter into the cavern of the soul where they will illumine and transmit to the inner being and make eventually understandable to the mind something of the essence of Overhead poetry that Sri Aurobindo has brought down to earth. One could easily have chosen other themes as well, as the possibilities are endless in this epic of Divine Love conquering death and the establishment of a divine life on earth. People often tell me that Savitri is 'too difficult' or 'closed' to them. To give a facile suggestion to 'Go Deeper' or to say that Savitri has been written from planes above the mind and is therefore impossible for the mind to understand, does nothing to encourage anyone to begin this marvellous 'adventure of consciousness and joy'. * The universal themes I have selected will hopefully capture the interest of all who would like to begin reading Savitri but fear it is too daunting. As an example, the book on Nature with quotations about animals, insects, flowers, etc. with all the passages in Savitri that contain these words, can inspire many to read further. Passages are often duplicated because they contain more than one key word. For me this is an additional enrichment of the spirit leading to a deeper understanding within, a pouring into the soul of a vaster breath of beauty, power and plenitude descending from the Overhead planes, something rarely seen and unknown until now in its fullness, in all the world's poetry. The book opens with the themes of Love and Light, and proceeds alphabetically thereafter. Sri Aurobindo, has expanded the English language as no one has done since Shakespeare, coined new words, employed words in unique and far wider senses, utilized and often anglicised foreign terms and widened the language by conveying visions and experiences that are beyond words. There are words in Savitri that may be perceived as "common" yet are employed by Sri Aurobindo in unique ways. Often a number of definitions for a particular word are given, leaving it to the reader to decide the applicable meaning in the context of the line. In the late 1990's my wife Mary Helen and I were inspired to compile a dictionary of words and terms in Savitri. This work has now been published by the Savitri Foundation asLexicon of An Infinite Mind, a Dictionary of Words and Terms in Savitri. I have includedthe applicable applicable words from this volume, taken from the Lexicon, as an appendix for interested readers. It is my prayer that this simple approach may inspire many who formerly found Savitri too complex and forbidding to enter into it through these elevating and life-changing themes. In the passages quoted, as in all of Savitri, one will find a richness of language and the magnificence of Sri Aurobindo's poetic genius in lines that will live for all time in the soul of humanity, helping it to grow into the Light and the Life Divine.
