Sri Aurobindo also says that one should be able to synthesise all four yogas. It is also said that the Supramental/ Integral yoga is very difficult. Then, if Sri Aurobindo’s yoga is taken as the Peak of a mountain, should not one first reach Base Camp(attain Moksha/ Nirvana) first, and then attempt to reach the Peak?
But it is also said that once a disciple asked Sri Aurobindo, why we don’t have Sadhakas who have not even attained the goal of Moksha/ Nirvana in the Ashram and He said to have answered that, if the Goal set before them was Moksha, there are quite a few who have reached this goal but the goal set before them was something different and hence it appears that that there are no Sadhakas who seem to have attained the goal of Moksha.
So the question is, would it not help in practising Sri Aurobindo’s yoga if one first reached base camp and then took it as a springboard to work on practising Sri Aurobindo’s yoga?
By attaining Moksha, one does not necessarily internalise all the other paths, as the nature of realisation is different in each path. It is somewhat like reaching different summits of the Himalayas at different points and from different angles of approach. It does not necessarily tell us about the Himalayas as a whole.
What happens is that in traditional yogas, the effort at nirvana is often at the expense of nature. One is too busy to find the way to get out of the magic circle of nature, like someone who totally neglects the forest in trying to get out of it. Once out, it is difficult to get back and start working on the dense and dangerous forest to turn it into a garden of God. Most yogis would not dare or care to do that, especially since the Moksha ideal is largely pursued under the spell of a subtle illusion, the illusion of our separateness. The individual seeking nirvana is the last foothold of the ego. Still, it involves primarily the individual who sees earthly life mainly as a field of ignorance forever and hence to be discarded eventually.
In the integral yoga, however, earthly life is seen as a field for the progressive manifestation of the Divine, and hence the Sadhak engages in a double labour, that of freedom from ignorance while, at the same working upon nature to make its elements more supple and beautiful, ready to manifest the Divine when one has found Him. It is somewhat like reaching Mount Kailas, meeting Shiva, taking delight in his peace and dance and finally merging with him vis-à-vis learning his dance and bringing its rhythms and peace and joy here on the ground, at the sealevel. For the manifestation, our nature too must undergo a simultaneous preparation so that the process of transformation can be swifter, easier, smoother. This double labour, on the soul’s release from ignorance and on developing and opening our nature to the Divine Force, is what makes it difficult.
But that is why the Divine Mother’s Grace holding us through this journey is far greater than has ever manifested so far
(Follow-up question:)
In continuation of the question asked, if the answer is that the answer is in the statement that Sri Aurobindo’s yoga starts where all other her yogas end, meaning first attain the status of Moksha. Then the question remains as to why Sri Aurobindo gave the answer that if the goal set before the Sadhaka was Moksha, there would be quite a few who have attained that.
Yes, as stated above, because he cannot neglect nature and its instrument in his rushing after nirvana. It means a double labour and hence the difficulty.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
