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Sri Aurobindo

Category: Mystic

The following was in part derived from Wikipedia which provides a good summary.

Sri Aurobindo (1872 –1950), born Aurobindo Ghosh or Ghose was an Indian nationalist, freedom fighter, philosopher, yogi, guru and poet. He joined the Indian movement for freedom from British rule, for a while became one of its influential leaders and then turned into a spiritual reformer, introducing his visions on human progress and spiritual evolution.

Aurobindo studied for the Indian civil service at King's College, Cambridge. After returning to India he took up various civil service works under the Maharaja of Baroda and started to involve himself in politics. While in politics he was imprisoned by British India for writing articles against British rule. He was released when no evidence was provided. During his stay in the jail he had mystical and spiritual experiences, which so affected him that when released, he moved to Pondicherry, leaving politics for spiritual work.

During his stay in Pondicherry, Aurobindo evolved a new method of spiritual practice, which he called Integral Yoga. The central theme of his approach was geared towards achieving moksha and nirvana and then annihilation.

His magnum opis is Savitri - an epic poem of 12 books and 24,000 lines about an individual who overcomes ignorance, suffering, and death in the world through her spiritual quest.

Sri Aurobindo continuously revised and worked on Savitri for over 20 years. Savitri is "the poetic expression of Sri Aurobindo’s loftiest spiritual philosophy and the emergence of Divinity on earth". It is loosely based on the ancient Indian tale of ‘Savitri and Satyavan’ from the Mahabharata.

“He believed in a spiritual realisation that not only liberated man but also transformed his nature, enabling a divine life on earth”

In 1926, with the help of his spiritual collaborator, Mirra Alfassa ("The Mother"), he founded the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

He died on 5 December 1950 in Pondicherry. He was the first Indian to create a major literary corpus in English.

from A Talk by the Mother on Savitri

It does not matter if you do not understand it - Savitri, read it always. You will see that every time you read it, something new will be revealed to you. Each time you will get a new glimpse, each time a new experience; things which were not there, things you did not understand arise and suddenly become clear.

Always an unexpected vision comes up through the words and lines. Every time you try to read and understand, you will see that something is added, something which was hidden behind is revealed clearly and vividly. I tell you the very verses you have read once before, will appear to you in a different light each time you re-read them. This is what of happens invariably. Always your experience is enriched, it is a revelation at each step.

But you must not read it as you read other books or newspapers. You must read with an empty head, a blank and vacant mind, without there being any other thought; you must concentrate much, remain empty, calm and open; then the words, rhythms, vibrations will penetrate directly to this white page, will put their stamp upon the brain, will explain themselves without your making any effort.
My child, yes, everything is there: mysticism, occultism, philosophy, the history of evolution, the history of man, of the gods, of creation, of Nature. How the universe was created, why, for what purpose, what destiny ? all is there.

You can find all the answers to all your questions there. Everything is explained, even the future of man and of the evolution, all that nobody yet knows. He has described it all in beautiful and clear words so that spiritual adventurers who wish to solve the mysteries of the world may understand it more easily. But this mystery is well hidden behind the words and lines and one must rise to the required level of true consciousness to discover it. All prophesies, all that is going to come is presented with the precise and wonderful clarity. Sri Aurobindo gives you here the key to find the Truth, to discover the Consciousness, to solve the problem of what the universe is.

References

His main literary works are

The Life Divine, which deals with theoretical aspects of Integral Yoga;
Synthesis of Yoga, which deals with practical guidance to Integral Yoga; and
Savitri, an epic poem which refers to a place in the Mahabharata, where its characters actualise integral yoga in their lives.

His works also include philosophy, poetry, translations and commentaries on the Vedas, Upanishads and the Gita.

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