SRI AUROBINDO'S INTEGRAL YOGA and THE MOTHER
CONTENTSTO CORRESPONDING PAGES |
Introduction I have come to find Sri Aurobindo to be one of the most advanced humans to ever live that has left behind such a powerful force of transformation available to the english reader. My soul's search for the highest, deepest and widest philosophy led me inevitably to Ken Wilber and his Integral Theory who led me, to which I owe such gratitude, to Sri Aurobindo. I have studying Wilber's Integral Theory for 7 years and Sri Aurobindo's for 3. His capacity to describe the Indescribable and his vast all-inclusive, interconnected philosophy of Integral Perfection is so bewildering that to contemplate how it is possible cultivates a connection within me, however minute, to the Supreme Absolute as I understand it.
Sri Aurobindo has written 29 volumes in english, making Sri Aurobindo a rare prolific Indian philosopher, which brings to the english speaking world his high interpretations of much of India's Yogic scriptures along with his own Yoga, the Integral Yoga, which is a synthesis of past systems, to arrive at a complete Yoga of Perfection. Not a Yoga of just the mind, or heart, or body but a Yoga aimed to transform the entire nature into the Divine. I expect it will take me upwards of 50 years to complete this section of the site, so bare with me as I work to explain his works and elements of his philosophy. Along with Sri Aurobindo I will be including the equally important works of The Mother, his spiritual counterpart. |
POWERS AND OBSTACLES IN THE YOGA
Aspiration, the souls longing and seeking for the Divine and cultivating a growing zeal of the turning towards That with with more and more of ones nature.
Consecration , having that turning towards the Divine be done with more and more one's entire self, all parts, body, desire, will, heart, mind etc.
Opening, cultivating a receptive capacity to receive the Divine qualities such as Grace, Force, Light, Power, Knowledge. This comes about by amongst aspiration a purifying, emptying, silencing and surrendering.
Surrender, a process of giving up ones desires, will, preferences and eventually ones entire self to the Divine.
Offering/Sacrifice, doing all that one does as an offering to the Divine, importantly, not for ones self, which abolishes the ego with a growing sense of devotion.
Equality, being unaffected by success, failure, pain, pleasure or any experience, equality is a test for freedom from desire and egoism.
Purification, the lower being: mind, heart, vital and physical must be perfected if (and by) the supramental force of Satchitananda is to descend.
Purusha, is the silent witness that directs and guides Praktriti by its sanction.
Prakriti, is the nature soul, consciousness-force, action and manifestation, probably everything that is not the Pure Existence Purusha.
Consecration , having that turning towards the Divine be done with more and more one's entire self, all parts, body, desire, will, heart, mind etc.
Opening, cultivating a receptive capacity to receive the Divine qualities such as Grace, Force, Light, Power, Knowledge. This comes about by amongst aspiration a purifying, emptying, silencing and surrendering.
Surrender, a process of giving up ones desires, will, preferences and eventually ones entire self to the Divine.
Offering/Sacrifice, doing all that one does as an offering to the Divine, importantly, not for ones self, which abolishes the ego with a growing sense of devotion.
Equality, being unaffected by success, failure, pain, pleasure or any experience, equality is a test for freedom from desire and egoism.
Purification, the lower being: mind, heart, vital and physical must be perfected if (and by) the supramental force of Satchitananda is to descend.
Purusha, is the silent witness that directs and guides Praktriti by its sanction.
Prakriti, is the nature soul, consciousness-force, action and manifestation, probably everything that is not the Pure Existence Purusha.
PRACTICES
KEY CONCEPTS
TEXTS
The Synthesis of Yoga - The Sunlit Path - The Integral Yoga - The Mother with Letters - Words of the Mother - II - The Psychic Being - The Life Divine - Letters on Yoga - II
THE INTEGRAL YOGA: SRI AUROBINDO'S TEACHING AND METHOD OF PRACTICE
This book is an excellent introduction and reference guide for a sadhak. There is little interpretation I will be doing of this book but mostly just highlighting the most influential parts for digital reference. The book itself is a compilation prepared by Peter Heehs and Bob Zwicker of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives and Research Library taken from letters between Sri Aurbindo and men and women from his ashram. This book is meant, I believe, as a daily handbook and I turn to it daily.
THE SUNLIT PATH by THE MOTHER
The Sunlit Path is a very different but extremely valuable guide, especially when feeling lost, on the spiritual path. The Mother's aspiration for a sunlit path, a path free from suffering, helps me everyday of my journey.
THE SYNTHESIS OF YOGA
The Synthesis of Yoga is one of his primary works, which focuses on the practical steps to transforming ones life into The Life Divine. It is an epic work of about 1000 pages of incredible difficulty and value. I have been working on this book for 3 years and consider myself still scratching the surface. It is divided into 5 sections, the Introduction, the Yoga of Divine Works, the Yoga of Integral Knowledge, the Yoga of Divine Love and the Yoga of Self-Perfection. Here is a link to some amazon reviews of the Synthesis of Yoga.
THE PSYCHIC BEING: SOUL: ITS NATURE, MISSION AND EVOLUTION
Within Sri Aurobindo's philosophy there are two primary components, imo, if it were possible to possibly divide it as such. One would be the Supramental, the Divine above us, which is trying to descend down into us to transform our nature into the DIvine's. The Second would be the Inner Psychic Being, or Soul, within, our own spark or piece of the Divine that is has secretly been guiding our nature and can become the sole leader of our upward march towards the Divine. The Inner Guide. The Inner Flame.
THE LIFE DIVINE
This is considered Sri Aurobindo's Magnum Opus, his primary philosophical work. Book I - Omnipresent Reality and the Universe, Book II p I- The Infinite Consciousness and the Ignorance, Book II p 2 - Knowledge and the Spiritual Evolution. If i were to try to describe it, perhaps I would try to do so as a road map from the Beginning of Time to the Life Divine, our deepest rooted highest aspiration.
This book is an excellent introduction and reference guide for a sadhak. There is little interpretation I will be doing of this book but mostly just highlighting the most influential parts for digital reference. The book itself is a compilation prepared by Peter Heehs and Bob Zwicker of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives and Research Library taken from letters between Sri Aurbindo and men and women from his ashram. This book is meant, I believe, as a daily handbook and I turn to it daily.
THE SUNLIT PATH by THE MOTHER
The Sunlit Path is a very different but extremely valuable guide, especially when feeling lost, on the spiritual path. The Mother's aspiration for a sunlit path, a path free from suffering, helps me everyday of my journey.
THE SYNTHESIS OF YOGA
The Synthesis of Yoga is one of his primary works, which focuses on the practical steps to transforming ones life into The Life Divine. It is an epic work of about 1000 pages of incredible difficulty and value. I have been working on this book for 3 years and consider myself still scratching the surface. It is divided into 5 sections, the Introduction, the Yoga of Divine Works, the Yoga of Integral Knowledge, the Yoga of Divine Love and the Yoga of Self-Perfection. Here is a link to some amazon reviews of the Synthesis of Yoga.
THE PSYCHIC BEING: SOUL: ITS NATURE, MISSION AND EVOLUTION
Within Sri Aurobindo's philosophy there are two primary components, imo, if it were possible to possibly divide it as such. One would be the Supramental, the Divine above us, which is trying to descend down into us to transform our nature into the DIvine's. The Second would be the Inner Psychic Being, or Soul, within, our own spark or piece of the Divine that is has secretly been guiding our nature and can become the sole leader of our upward march towards the Divine. The Inner Guide. The Inner Flame.
THE LIFE DIVINE
This is considered Sri Aurobindo's Magnum Opus, his primary philosophical work. Book I - Omnipresent Reality and the Universe, Book II p I- The Infinite Consciousness and the Ignorance, Book II p 2 - Knowledge and the Spiritual Evolution. If i were to try to describe it, perhaps I would try to do so as a road map from the Beginning of Time to the Life Divine, our deepest rooted highest aspiration.
PARTS OF THE BEING
TO ADD SOMEWHERE,
The Mother,
The individual, universal and transcendent
The psychic being
satchitananda
sat.
unformated index?
The individual, universal and transcendent
The psychic being
satchitananda
sat.
unformated index?