The
Integral Yoga
Three Conceptions of the World
1. Buddhist
and Shankarite:
The world is an
illusion, a field of ignorance and suffering due to ignorance. The one thing to
do is to get out of it as soon as possible and to disappear into the original
Non-Existence or Non-Manifestation.
2. The Vedantic as very commonly understood:
The world is essentially
divine, for the Divine is omnipresent there. But its exterior expression is
distorted, obscure, ignorant, perverted. The one thing to do is to become
conscious of the inner Divine and remain fixed in that consciousness without
troubling about the world; for this external world cannot change and will
always be in its natural state of unconsciousness and ignorance.
3. Sri Aurobindo’s view:
The world as it is, is
not the divine creation it is meant to be, but an obscure and perverted
expression of it. It is not the expression of the divine consciousness and
will, but this is what it is meant to become; it has been created to develop
into a perfect manifestation of the Divine under all His forms and aspects ― light and Knowledge, power, Love and Beauty.
This is our conception
of it and the aim we follow.
24 February
1936
The usual sadhanas have for aim the union with the Supreme
Consciousness (Sat-chit-ananda). And those who reach
there are satisfied with their own liberation and leave the world to its
unhappy plight. On the contrary, Sri Aurobindo's sadhana
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starts where the others end. Once the
union with the Supreme is realised one must bring
down that realisation to the exterior world and
change the conditions of life upon the earth until a total transformation is
accomplished. In accordance with this aim, the sadhaks
of the integral yoga do not retire from the world to lead a life of
contemplation and meditation. Each one must devote at least one third of his
time to a useful work. All activities are represented in the Ashram and each
one chooses the work most congenial to his nature, but must do it in a spirit
of service and unselfishness, keeping always in view the aim of integral
transformation.
To make this purpose
possible, the Ashram is organised so that all its
inmates find their reasonable needs satisfied and have not to worry about their
subsistence.
The rules are very few
so that each one can enjoy the freedom needed for his development, but a few
things are strictly forbidden: they are (1) politics, (2) smoking, (3)
alcoholic drink and (4) sex enjoyment.
Great care is taken for
the maintenance of good health and the welfare and normal growth of the body of
all, small and big, young and old.
24
September 1953
What we are doing now is
a new thing; it has nothing to do with the past.
We want the divine
conquest of this world, the conquest of all its movements and the realisation of the Divine here.
It can be called an
adventure because it is the first time
that a yoga aims at transformation and divinisation of physical life instead of escape from it.
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We want to translate
into physical terms, as perfectly as possible, the inspiration sent by the Lord
for the accomplishment of His work upon earth.
And for that, each
individual soul is a help and a collaborator; but each human ego too is a
limitation and an obstacle.
5 April
1960
To those who want to practise the integral Yoga, it is strongly advised to
abstain from three things:
1) Sexual intercourse
2) Smoking
3) Drinking alcohol
12 June
1965
The more I go, the more
I know that it is in work that Sri Aurobindo's
integral yoga is it best done.
9 October
1966
It is not what you do
but the spirit in which you do it that is important for the integral Yoga. 1971
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