Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo (Bangla: ???? ???????) (August 15, 1872–December 5, 1950) was an Indian nationalist, scholar, poet, Hindu mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru. His followers further believe that he was an avatar, an incarnation of the supreme being.

Aurobindo's practical method: integral yoga

The metaphysical teaching is balanced by a practical method, called Integral Yoga.

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Integral Yoga is so-called because it involves the synthesis of the three yogas - bhakti, karma, and jnana - of the Bhagavad Gita. It is also called "Integral" because it embodies and integrates all aspects of life.

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Of these three, bhakti is central, and in keeping with the Hindu tradition of the Divine Mother, Sri Aurobindo teaches devotion to the Mother, personified in his co-worker Mirra Richard, henceforth called 'The Mother'. In his letters to his disciples, advises them to consecrates every action to the Mother, and surrender to Her and the Divine Force expressed through Her.

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In this way the work of self-transformation involves rejecting the Desire Soul or surface ego in the Outer Being, and opening up to the depths within. Finally the Psychic Being, the personal evolving soul comes to the fore, along with an opening to higher spiritual realms, moving out of time, and finiteness to oneness, timelessness, and infinity. The spiritual light then descends and begins to transform all aspects of the being -- mental, vital, and physical. In The Life Divine and the Letters these two processes are referred to as Psychicisation and Spiritualisation, both absolutely essential. Psychicisation alone does not mean Enlightenment, and Spiritualisation without the Psychic Being can be disastrous for the individual sadhaka, who may be trapped by snares like those of the intermediate zone. But the double movement together enable an opening to a descent of the higher levels of Spiritual mind beyond the thinking faculty and limitations of reason, as well as the descent of the light, peace, and power to transform the vital and physical parts of our being into their higher formations. These are intermediate stages on the path of ascent to the Supermind. The task of the Yoga is to allow the inner Psychic and higher Spiritual consciousness to transform the faculties of the outer being - the mental, vital and physical being.

Related Topics:
Ego - Outer Being - Depths within - Psychic Being - Psychic - Spiritualisation - Sadhaka - Spirit - Mind

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The Psychic and spiritual transformation can be practically practiced as follows: The three central spiritual methods of connecting to the Spirit are Consecration, Moving to the Depths (Concentration), and Surrender. Consecration is to open to the Force before engaging in an activity. Moving to the Depths (or Concentration) is a movement away from the surface existence to a deeper existence within. In the deepest depths one discovers the Personal Evolving Soul. Surrender is to offer all one's work, one's life to the Divine Force and Intent. (It occurs generally after one has connected with the Personal Evolving Soul.) The recommended approach for the average person is to begin consecrating every act to enable magnificent results, and over time move the consciousness into the depths, which will enable better consecration. When you reach the Evolving Soul in the depths, then you can begin a life of Surrender to the Divine.

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The supramental transformation is the final stage, enabling the birth of a new individual fully formed by the supramental power, the same power that enabled the universe to be created in the first place from out of a Divine Source. Such individuals would be the forerunners of a new truth-consciousness based supra-humanity. Among their capacities are: a total oneness and identity with the environment and with others; total integral knowledge replacing our essential ignorance, i.e. knowledge by identity; a unification of knowledge and will (what one knows is automatically created, what is willed is fully known in its truth); the Force of creation reunited with the Consciousness; and a complete unity of the Individual, Universal, and Transcendent purpose expressed through the person. Also, all aspects of division and ignorance of consciousness at the vital and mental levels would be overcome, replaced with a unity of consciousness at every plane. Beyond that is the physical transformation of the body, consisting of a new type of individual, operating on spirit as the basis of functioning rather than the crude bodily systems we know today (breathing, digesting, blood circulation etc.). A new supramental species would then emerge, living a supramental, gnostic, divine life on earth.

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Sri Aurobindo's extensive mapping of consciousness and his life-long endeavour to fathom the overhead regions through poetry and yoga are seminal contributions. His emphasis on attainability of highest possible perfection through sheer human efforts and by mere aspiration is a great message of hope. Further, the adventure of consciousness is not aimed at isolated spiritual salvation. Rather, a harmonious collective living is the ultimate destination. By translating this ideal to practical terms, Sri Aurobindo draws an elaborate blueprint concerning the ideal of human unity leading to the establishment of a World-Union.

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