Overman Foundation

Following the controversy regarding the book The Failed Prophet, the Chairman of Overman Foundation Shri Anurag Banerjee has issued the following statement:

Before the storm revolving around Peter Heehs’ book The Lives of Sri Aurobindo could subside, another derogatory book on Sri Aurobindo written by N. Nandhivarman and titled The Failed Prophet has seen the light of the day. The author for a number of years has written on the ‘mismanagement’ of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust and its Trustees. But now he has changed the target of his attack from Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust (though he has devoted more than twenty five pages of this book to criticize the functioning of the Trust) to Sri Aurobindo.
Not only has the author revealed his the limited scholarliness (which too is full of misinterpretations) through this book but also his own ignorance of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy which he has rubbished. What Sri Aurobindo has done for India and the world, rather, the entire mankind, is known to all. Therefore it matters little if the author feels that Sri Aurobindo’s contribution is negligible. In a secular country like India where freedom of speech is a constitutional right every individual is free to express his views and the author of The Failed Prophet has made good use of his constitutional right. But it hardly matters what Mr. Nandhivarman’s views are about Sri Aurobindo. His is a lone voice which would surely get drowned in the ocean of reverence the entire world has for Sri Aurobindo. Men like Mr. Nandhivarman would come and go but the work of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother will go on till the aim of their yoga is achieved. This book can create a short-lived sensation (with some of its sentences like ‘Aurobindo Ghose had brainwashed a small tribe to dream they are supermen’ or ‘He could use the mastery of the language to mesmerize people but he failed to become a Super human being. He passed away like other mortals,’) among those who have little faith in Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy but just as no dark cloud can darken the radiance of the sun, no one and nothing can malign the greatness of Sri Aurobindo.
Let Mr. Nandhivarman be happy with his wrong convictions of the futility of the work of Sri Aurobindo. But we have no hesitation to proclaim that Overman Foundation condemns The Failed Prophet.

Overman Foundation is happy to announce the acquisition of a valuable collection of letters and photographs. This collection, donated by Shri Nirmal Singh Nahar, includes unpublished letters of the Mother of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Nolini Kanta Gupta, Dilip Kumar Roy, Prithwi Singh Nahar, Nishikanto Roychowdhury, S. Doraiswamy, Sujata Nahar and others. Another collection has been gifted to Overman Foundation by Shri Malay Banerjee and it consists of unpublished letters written to him by Satprem and Sujata Nahar.

Persons possessing important documents related to the life and works of Sri Aurobindo, the Mother and their direct disciples or letters written by the Mother and eminent sadhaks of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, may contact Overman Foundation if they are desirous to donate such materials. We assure them that their gifts will be preserved for posterity under the best possible conditions.

With warm regards,

Anurag Banerjee

Chairman,
Overman Foundation.