This happens because what Sri Aurobindo has brought to the world is a New Idea. Though it contains within it the essence of past spiritual efforts of mankind, yet it reaches out to a totally new and unprecedented goal. Quite naturally, it takes time to comprehend it. But with little effort and dwelling upon the core ideas of his teachings, they begin to reveal their truths. These core ideas can be summarised as:
- Man is a transitional being. Man is meant to, even we may say, programmed to evolve beyond man. Out of our animal humanity, the divine humanity or the superman is bound to emerge.
- Unlike past evolutionary leaps, this one will be through man’s conscious collaboration. Man has a role to play in his own evolution. He cannot stop it since such is the Divine Will, but we can surely hasten or delay it by our attitudes.
- The method of conscious collaboration, which will lead to conscious evolution is termed as the Integral yoga. Traditional yoga is about the liberation of the soul from a state of ignorance to a state of knowledge and oneness. Integral yoga goes one more step further. It is not only about the soul’s liberation but also the liberation of nature from its inferior mode of workings to a higher divine mode.
- By its very nature, the integral yoga means a conscious participation of all our different parts, – the soul, mind, life, body in the evolutionary process. It also means realising the Divine in His totality and not just one or a few aspects. This realisation is meant to eventually make life perfect with the Divine Perfection and not as a means to escape from life through the door of nirvana.
- The method of this yoga is a triple labour of aspiration, rejection and surrender. Of these, a conscious and willing and glad surrender to the Divine Mother holds the key.
- There are three steps of the yoga, – discovering the psychic being within and identifying with it, opening to higher and higher states of consciousness beyond the Mind, the eventual downpour of the psychic, spiritual and supramental forces and energies upon ourselves and the world, leading to the transformation of human nature and instruments into a divine nature with instruments and the body transformed and adapted to this purpose.
- Sri Aurobindo and the Mother’s life are the examples before us of what this yoga is and can do.
- This is not a yoga of world-shunning asceticism but of a world-transforming alchemy. Therefore, by its very nature, it is not an individual but a collective yoga.
These are some of the key thoughts. Let me know if you need me to elaborate on any one of these.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
Source: ΰ€ΰ€ ΰ€¨ΰ€―ΰ₯ ΰ€ΰ€ΰ€€ ΰ€ΰ₯ ΰ€¬ΰ₯ΰ€ || GH 52 || ΰ€‘ΰ₯. ΰ€ΰ€²ΰ₯ΰ€ ΰ€ͺΰ€Ύΰ€ΰ€‘ΰ₯
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