This article elucidates the meaning of Indian nationalism and its connection to religious universalism as a problem of ethics. It engages in that exercise of elucidation by interpreting a few of the key texts by Aurobindo Ghose on the relationship between ethics and politics in the first two decades of the twentieth century. Both secularist and subalternist histories have contributed to misunderstandings of Aurobindo’s political thought and shownaninabilityto comprehend itsethicalmoorings. The specific failures in fathoming the depths of Aurobindo’s thought are related to more general infirmities afflicting the history of political and economic ideas in colonial India. In exploring how best to achieve Indian unity, Aurobindo had shown that Indian nationalism was not condemned to pirating from the gallery of models of states crafted by the West. By reconceptualizing the link between religion and politics, this essay suggests a new way forward in Indian intellectual history.

This post was originally published on the Washington Monthly.
On Friday, the White House released invitations to its health care summit, scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 25. There was, as we talked about on Saturday morning, an important hint in the text of the invitation.
“Since this meeting will be most productive if information is widely available before the meeting, we will post online the text of a proposed health insurance reform package,” the materials read, adding, “It is the President’s hope that the Republican congressional leadership will also put forward their own comprehensive bill to achieve those goals and make it available online as well.”
This certainly made it sound as if there will be a completed Democratic proposal in place by the 25th, which would be quite a breakthrough, since there is no completed Democratic package right now. Is that really the plan? Ezra Klein reports this morning that this is, in fact, what officials have in mind.

I hope to put these ideas into a science-based narrative documentary film - alone with the idea that: Some things are just more important than money. Any participation or suggestions from SC would be a great resource in putting forward these difficult ideas - Thanks - J.

Pic - from a recent trip to Madagascar | a young Malagasy boy plays home-made kazzo.

Image via GoneOnGreen

Neon Green has decided to bring solar to the fashion forward among us, from tween girls to guys working in the financial district. The makers of solar bags have come up with a variety of designs that incorporate thin-film solar cells into trendy bags with "soular" for off-grid charging and backup power for hand-held gadgets. Neon Green claims the bags are so awesome, they'll "transform [you] from a mere mortal to a super hero with soular powers." Now that's quite a statement. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

by Gus Speth

Editor’s note: The following is the 10th Annual John H. Chafee Memorial Lecture, delivered at the National Council for Science and the Environment in Washington, DC, on January 21, 2010.

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I’m both pleased and honored to have been asked by NCSE to give this 10th Annual John H. Chafee Memorial Lecture. I knew John personally and had the opportunity to work with him during his long and distinguished service on the Senate Environment Committee. He was a wonderful person and a great Senator. I wish we had a dozen John Chafees in the Senate today. And I want also to acknowledge the ever-more important role NCSE has played in our national life. Many of you are familiar with its contributions, including this blockbuster conference, but you may not know of its leadership in creating and supporting a council of deans and directors of America’s environmental schools. I know that that initiative meant a lot to us at Yale. And let me especially join in celebrating the achievements of the remarkable Herman Daly, a profound thinker, a generous soul,  and a great wit. Herman launched us into considering the steady state economy and led in the creation of the now highly-productive field of ecological economics. We owe him a great debt for all he has done.

To begin, I would like to invite you to join me in a journey of the imagination. I want you to join me in visiting a world very different from the one we have today.

I was in a meeting today with some smart folks that got me thinking again about "green jobs," specifically Van Jones' message about the intersection of environmentalism and social justice. They're not polished thoughts, but I thought I'd share them and see what folks think.

Ever since Van Jones got essentially lynched by Glenn Beck's teabaggers, I've been wondering why it was so easy to target him, why the green jobs message (which seemed to me at the time uncontroversial) so clearly failed to connect, and why the green jobs conversation in Northern Europe seems to be going so much better.

Racism is a correct, but too easy, answer. There's plenty of racism in Europe, too, and not all the people who got riled up to take down Van Jones were racists. There's something more afoot here, I suspect. I think it has to do as well with the form of social justice green jobs came to connote.

Part of what appealed to me about Jones' pitch was explicitly the idea that one set of solutions I really care about -- clean energy and green technologies -- might be an answer as well to a different set of problems I also care about, economic injustice and racism in America. Save the planet, give justice to the poor: that's a slam dunk argument to someone like me. I suspect many other progressives felt exactly the same way.

Hello Everyone,

I hope this posting finds you well. I have been spending a lot of time in contemplation lately. I am going through a few things and working on others. My transition, such like any, is not without its kinks, But I suppose that is the nature of everything. The lessons I am learning are great so I would not change it.

I am actually starting a class that teaches kundalini awakening. This is something that has been on my mind and in my intention for a while now. I see it, personally, as kind of a lead in to a new way of living. As, I am mostly self taught, it would definitely be a crowning achievement for me.

In the title of this post, I mention that while practice is an absolute necessity, the concentration on the ritual of it and the dogma is not where our focus needs to be. Most of what I do has been very intuitively based. I have never really been taught but more so have been guided by my own exploration into what works well and specifically toward the multi-faceted goals that I have.

But, over the past few years and increasingly so over the last couple months, I have been on a path of filtering out everything in my daily practice that is not necessary. Now, personally, that means that I want to completely clear away anything that stands in the way between my practice and the goal of that practice you know?

I think that so many people (many that I come across) get so caught up in the hows and the whys and this keeps them from making any true progress.

Submitted by Contrary Investor, one of our favorite no nonsense sites. Readers who want to get a premium subscription and mention Zero Hedge should get a discount on membership rates.

By Kate Fleming

In the midst of a particularly difficult time for Andrew’s female students, I left. I found a light-filled apartment not far from my work, and settled in for the winter depressingly convinced that I had wasted the bulk of my life and all my youth (I was then 48) on a bitter failure. Six months later, a lifeline came from a totally unexpected quarter. Two of Andrew’s closest male students had begun a conversation that resulted in a realization that Andrew’s community as a whole had almost no respect or appreciation for its beginnings and that this was something that needed addressing. So, with the greatest trepidation I and others who had met Andrew in the first few years began speaking with them about this. The effect was astounding. Whole chunks of my experience that I had taken totally personally began to be seen from a much bigger perspective. And even, perhaps more important, I realized that that which had led me to Andrew was still totally alive and that none of it had been a waste…and that the mystery, possibility and journey was there for me to engage with now and in going forward.