Biography aurobindo ghosh

Sri Aurobindo

Indian philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet and nationalist (1872–1950)

For the pharmaceutic company, see Aurobindo Pharma.

Sri Aurobindo

Aurobindo, c. 1900

Born

Aurobindo Ghose


(1872-08-15)15 Honorable 1872

Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
(present-day Kolkata, West Bengal, India)

Died5 Dec 1950(1950-12-05) (aged 78)

Pondicherry, French India
(present-day Pondicherry, Puducherry, India)

NationalityIndian
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge
RelativesRajnarayan Basu (maternal-grandfather)
Manmohan Ghose (brother)
Barindra Kumar Ghose (brother)[1]
Signature
ReligionHindu
Founder ofSri Aurobindo Ashram
Philosophy

Disciples

  • Champaklal, Nolini Kanta Gupta, Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya, K. D. Sethna, Nirodbaran, Pavitra, M. P. Pandit, A.B. Purani, Dilipkumar Roy, Satprem, Indra Sen

Quotation

Matter shall reveal the Spirit's face / All Take a crack at is Yoga.[2]

Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet, Specialist and Indian nationalist.[3] He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as Bande Mataram. He joined the Indian movement collaboration independence from British colonial rule, until 1910 was one promote to its influential leaders, and then became a spiritual reformer, introducing his visions on human progress and spiritual evolution.

Aurobindo premeditated for the Indian Civil Service at King's College, in University, England. After returning to India he took up various nonmilitary service works under the Maharaja of the princely state acquire Baroda and became increasingly involved in nationalist politics in say publicly Indian National Congress and the nascent revolutionary movement in Bengal with the Anushilan Samiti. He was arrested in the issue of a number of bombings linked to his organization counter a public trial where he faced charges of treason have a handle on Alipore Conspiracy. However, Sri Aurobindo could only be convicted see imprisoned for writing articles against British colonial rule in Bharat. He was released when no evidence could be provided, multitude the murder of a prosecution witness, Narendranath Goswami, during interpretation trial. During his stay in the jail, he had cabbalistic and spiritual experiences, after which he moved to Pondicherry, sendoff politics for spiritual work.

At Pondicherry, Sri Aurobindo developed a spiritual practice he called Integral Yoga. The central theme refer to his vision was the evolution of human life into a divine life in a divine body. He believed in a spiritual realisation that not only liberated but transformed human variety, enabling a divine life on earth. In 1926, with picture help of his spiritual collaborator, Mirra Alfassa (referred to trade in "The Mother"), Sri Aurobindo Ashram was founded.

Sri Aurobindo was nominated twice for the Nobel prize without it being awarded, in 1943 for the Nobel award in Literature and quickwitted 1950 for the Nobel award in Peace.

His main fictitious works are The Life Divine, which deals with the esoteric aspect of Integral Yoga;[5]Synthesis of Yoga, which deals with rendering principles and methods of Integral Yoga;[6] and Savitri: A Romance and a Symbol, an epic poem.

Biography

Early life

Aurobindo Ghose was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Bengal Presidency, India on 15 August 1872 in a Bengali Kayastha family that was related with the town of Konnagar in the Hooghly district clench present-day West Bengal.[7] His father, Krishna Dhun Ghose, was abuse assistant surgeon of Rangpur in Bengal and later civil medico of Khulna, and a former member of the Brahmo Samaj religious reform movement who had become enamoured with the then-new idea of evolution while pursuing medical studies in Edinburgh.[8][a] His mother Swarnalata Devi's father Shri Rajnarayan Bose was a hero figure in the Samaj. She had been sent to representation more salubrious surroundings of Calcutta for Aurobindo's birth. Aurobindo locked away two elder siblings, Benoybhusan and Manmohan, a younger sister, Sarojini, and a younger brother, Barindra Kumar (also referred to chimpanzee Barin).

Young Aurobindo was brought up speaking English, but used Hindi to communicate with servants. Although his family were Bengali, his father believed British culture to be superior. He and his two elder siblings were sent to the English-speaking Loreto See to boarding school in Darjeeling, in part to improve their have a chat skills and in part to distance them from their indolence, who had developed a mental illness soon after the inception of her first child. Darjeeling was a centre of Anglo-Indians in India and the school was run by Irish nuns, through which the boys would have been exposed to Christlike religious teachings and symbolism.

England (1879–1893)

Krishna Dhun Ghose wanted his review to enter the Indian Civil Service (ICS), an elite constitution comprising around 1000 people. To achieve this it was central that they study in England and so it was nearby that the entire family moved in 1879.[b] The three brothers were placed in the care of the Reverend W. H. Drewett in Manchester. Drewett was a minister of the Congregationalist Church whom Krishna Dhun Ghose knew through his British alters ego at Rangpur.[c]

The boys were taught Latin by Drewett and his wife. This was a prerequisite for admission to good Spin schools and, after two years, in 1881, the elder flash siblings were enrolled at Manchester Grammar School. Aurobindo was reasoned too young for enrollment, and he continued his studies organize the Drewetts, learning history, Latin, French, geography and arithmetic. Though the Drewetts were told not to teach religion, the boys inevitably were exposed to Christian teachings and events, which customarily bored Aurobindo and sometimes repulsed him. There was little affect with his father, who wrote only a few letters evaluation his sons while they were in England, but what idiom there was indicated that he was becoming less endeared attain the British in India than he had been, on single occasion describing the British colonial government as "heartless".

Drewett emigrated figure out Australia in 1884, causing the boys to be uprooted similarly they went to live with Drewett's mother in London. Case September of that year, Aurobindo and Manmohan joined St Paul's School there.[d] He learned Greek and spent the last tierce years reading literature and English poetry, while he also acquired some familiarity with the German and Italian languages; Peter Heehs resumes his linguistic abilities by stating that at "the orbit of the century he knew at least twelve languages: Arts, French, and Bengali to speak, read, and write; Latin, Grecian, and Sanskrit to read and write; Gujarati, Marathi, and Sanskrit to speak and read; and Italian, German, and Spanish build up read."[19] Being exposed to the evangelical structures of Drewett's be quiet developed in him a distaste for religion, and he thoughtful himself at one point to be an atheist but after determined that he was agnostic. A blue plaque unveiled nucleus 2007 commemorates Aurobindo's residence at 49 St Stephen's Avenue elaborate Shepherd's Bush, London, from 1884 to 1887. The three brothers began living in spartan circumstances at the Liberal Club access South Kensington during 1887, their father having experienced some economic difficulties. The club's secretary was James Cotton, brother of their father's friend in the Bengal ICS, Henry Cotton.

By 1889, Manmohan had determined to pursue a literary career and Benoybhusan challenging proved himself unequal to the standards necessary for ICS access. This meant that only Aurobindo might fulfill his father's aspirations but to do so when his father lacked money compulsory that he studied hard for a scholarship. To become proscribe ICS official, students were required to pass the competitive inspection, as well as to study at an English university bring two years under probation. Aurobindo secured a scholarship at King's College, Cambridge, under recommendation of Oscar Browning. He passed picture written ICS examination after a few months, being ranked Eleventh out of 250 competitors. He spent the next two life at King's College. Aurobindo had no interest in the Constitution and came late to the horse-riding practical exam purposefully revivify get himself disqualified for the service.In 1891 Sri Aurobindo further felt that a period of great upheaval for his home town was coming in which he was destined to play public housing important role. He began to learn Bengali and joined a secret society, romantically named 'Lotus and Dagger', where the chapters took an oath to work for India's freedom.[25]

At this revolt, the Maharaja of Baroda, Sayajirao Gaekwad III, was travelling bind England. Cotton secured for him a place in Baroda Refurbish Service and arranged for him to meet the prince. Let go left England for India, arriving there in February 1893. Overfull India, Krishna Dhun Ghose, who was waiting to receive his son, was misinformed by his agents from Bombay (now Mumbai) that the ship on which Aurobindo had been travelling difficult sunk off the coast of Portugal. His father died walk out hearing this news.

Baroda and Calcutta (1893–1910)

Main article: Political history living example Sri Aurobindo

See also: Anushilan Samiti

In Baroda, Aurobindo joined the bring back service in 1893, working first in the Survey and Settlements department, later moving to the Department of Revenue and abuse to the Secretariat, and much miscellaneous work like teaching grammar and assisting in writing speeches for the Maharaja of Gaekwad until 1897. In 1897 during his work in Baroda, recognized started working as a part-time French teacher at Baroda College (now Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda). He was later promoted to the post of vice-principal. At Baroda, Aurobindo self-studied Indic and Bengali.

During his stay at Baroda, he had contributed pop in many articles to Indu Prakash and had spoken as a chairman of the Baroda college board. He started taking chiefly active interest in the politics of the Indian independence desire against British colonial rule, working behind the scenes as his position in the Baroda state administration barred him from classic overt political activity. He linked up with resistance groups play a part Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, while travelling to these states. Aurobindo established contact with Lokmanya Tilak and Sister Nivedita.

Aurobindo commonly travelled between Baroda and Bengal, at first in a direction to re-establish links with his parents' families and other Asian relatives, including his sister Sarojini and brother Barin, and posterior increased to establish resistance groups across the Presidency. He officially moved to Calcutta in 1906 after the announcement of representation Partition of Bengal. In 1901, on a visit to Calcutta, he married 14-year-old Mrinalini, the daughter of Bhupal Chandra Bose, a senior official in government service. Aurobindo was 28 look after that time. Mrinalini died seventeen years later in December 1918 during the influenza pandemic.

In 1906, Aurobindo was appointed the principal principal of the National College in Calcutta, started to confer national education to Indian youth.[35] He resigned from this flap in August 1907, due to his increased political activity.[36] Say publicly National College continues to the present as Jadavpur University, Kolkata.[37]

Aurobindo was influenced by studies on rebellion and revolutions against England in medieval France and the revolts in America and Italia. In his public activities, he favored Non cooperation and Inert resistance; in private he took up secret revolutionary activity bit a preparation for open revolt, in case that the oneoff revolt failed.

In Bengal, with Barin's help, he established contacts innermost inspired revolutionaries such as Bagha Jatin or Jatin Mukherjee point of view Surendranath Tagore. He helped establish a series of youth clubs, including the Anushilan Samiti of Calcutta in 1902.

Aurobindo attended say publicly 1906 Congress meeting headed by Dadabhai Naoroji and participated gorilla a councilor in forming the fourfold objectives of "Swaraj, Swadesh, Boycott, and national education". In 1907 at the Surat inattention of Congress where moderates and extremists had a major final settlement, he led along with extremists along with Bal Gangadhar Tilak. The Congress split after this session. In 1907–1908 Aurobindo traveled extensively to Pune, Bombay and Baroda to firm up finance for the nationalist cause, giving speeches and meeting with accumulations. He was arrested again in May 1908 in connection laughableness the Alipore Bomb Case. He was acquitted in the ensuing trial, following the murder of chief prosecution witness Naren Goswami within jail premises, which subsequently led to the case ruin him collapsing. Aurobindo was subsequently released after a year pounce on isolated incarceration.

Once out of the prison he started glimmer new publications, Karmayogin in English and Dharma in Bengali. Prohibited also delivered the, Uttarpara Speech hinting at the transformation vacation his focus to spiritual matters. Repression from the British complex government against him continued because of his writings in his new journals and in April 1910 Aurobindo moved to Pondicherry, where the British colonial secret police monitored his activities.

Conversion proud politics to spirituality

In July 1905 then Viceroy of India, Peer Curzon, partitioned Bengal. This sparked an outburst of public multiply by two against the British, leading to civil unrest and a separatist campaign by groups of revolutionaries that included Aurobindo. In 1908, Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki attempted to kill Magistrate Kingsford, a judge known for handing down particularly severe sentences blaspheme nationalists. However, the bomb thrown at his horse carriage miss its target and instead landed in another carriage and glue two British women, the wife and daughter of barrister Pringle Kennedy. Aurobindo was also arrested on charges of planning duct overseeing the attack and imprisoned in solitary confinement in Alipore Jail. The trial of the Alipore Bomb Case lasted foothold a year, but eventually, he was acquitted on 6 Can 1909. His defense counsel was Chittaranjan Das.

During this period efficient the Jail, his view of life was radically changed extinguish to spiritual experiences and realizations. Consequently, his aim went faraway beyond the service and liberation of the country.

Aurobindo whispered he was "visited" by Vivekananda in the Alipore Jail: "It is a fact that I was hearing constantly the utterly of Vivekananda speaking to me for a fortnight in description jail in my solitary meditation and felt his presence."

In his autobiographical notes, Aurobindo said he felt a vast sense outandout calmness when he first came back to India. He could not explain this and continued to have various such experiences from time to time. He knew nothing of yoga velvety that time and started his practice of it without a teacher, except for some rules that he learned from Mr. Devadhar, a friend who was a disciple of Swami Brahmananda of Ganga Math, Chandod.[46] In 1907, Barin introduced Aurobindo conversation Vishnu Bhaskar Lele, a Maharashtrian yogi. Aurobindo was influenced be oblivious to the guidance he got from the yogi, who had tutored Aurobindo to depend on an inner guide and any comprehension of external guru or guidance would not be required.

In 1910 Aurobindo withdrew himself from all political activities and went comprise hiding at Chandannagar in the house of Motilal Roy, patch the British colonial government were attempting to prosecute him supporting sedition on the basis of a signed article titled 'To My Countrymen', published in Karmayogin. As Aurobindo disappeared from prospect, the warrant was held back and the prosecution postponed. Aurobindo manoeuvred the police into open action and a warrant was issued on 4 April 1910, but the warrant could throng together be executed because on that date he had reached Pondicherry, then a French colony. The warrant against Aurobindo was diffident.

Pondicherry (1910–1950)

In Pondicherry, Sri Aurobindo dedicated himself to his holy and philosophical pursuits. In 1914, after four years of separate yoga, he started a monthly philosophical magazine called Arya. That ceased publication in 1921. Many years later, he revised tedious of these works before they were published in book modification. Some of the book series derived out of this publish was The Life Divine, The Synthesis of Yoga, Essays declaration The Gita, The Secret of The Veda, Hymns to picture Mystic Fire, The Upanishads, The Renaissance in India, War gift Self-determination, The Human Cycle, The Ideal of Human Unity humbling The Future Poetry were published in this magazine.

At the duplicate of his stay at Pondicherry, there were few followers, but with time their numbers grew, resulting in the formation take off the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1926.[51] From 1926 he started to sign himself as Sri Aurobindo, Sri being commonly lazy as an honorific.

For some time afterwards, his main literary achievement was his voluminous correspondence with his disciples. His letters, principal of which were written in the 1930s, numbered in interpretation several thousand. Many were brief comments made in the margins of his disciple's notebooks in answer to their questions last reports of their spiritual practice—others extended to several pages draw round carefully composed explanations of practical aspects of his teachings. These were later collected and published in book form in iii volumes of Letters on Yoga. In the late 1930s, dirt resumed work on a poem he had started earlier—he continuing to expand and revise this poem for the rest loosen his life. It became perhaps his greatest literary achievement, Savitri, an epic spiritual poem in blank verse of approximately 24,000 lines.

On 15 August 1947, Sri Aurobindo strongly opposed the separation of India, stating that he hoped "the Nation will crowd accept the settled fact as for ever settled, or introduce anything more than a temporary expedient."[55]

Sri Aurobindo was nominated double for the Nobel prize without it being awarded, in 1943 for the Nobel award in Literature and in 1950 signify the Nobel award in Peace.[56]

Sri Aurobindo died on 5 Dec 1950, of uremia. Around 60,000 people attended to see his body resting peacefully.[57] Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and picture President Rajendra Prasad praised him for his contribution to Hinduism philosophy and the independence movement. National and international newspapers commemorated his death.[51]

Mirra Alfassa (The Mother) and the development of representation Ashram

Sri Aurobindo's close spiritual collaborator, Mirra Alfassa (born Alfassa), came to be known as The Mother.[59] She was a Land national, born in Paris on 21 February 1878. In tea break 20s she studied occultism with Max Theon. Along with contain husband, Paul Richard, she went to Pondicherry on 29 Step 1914, and finally settled there in 1920. Sri Aurobindo thoughtful her his spiritual equal and collaborator. After 24 November 1926, when Sri Aurobindo retired into seclusion, he left it combat her to plan, build and run the ashram, the district of disciples which had gathered around them. Sometime later, when families with children joined the ashram, she established and supervised the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education with its experiments in the field of education. When he died in 1950, she continued their spiritual work, directed the ashram, and guided their disciples.

Philosophy and spiritual vision

Main article: Integral yoga

Sri Aurobindo's model of Being and Evolution
Levels of BeingDevelopment
OverallOuter BeingInner BeingPsychic Being
Supermind SupermindGnostic Man
Supra-mentalisation
Mind Overmind Psychisation
and
Spiritualisation
Intuition
Illuminated Value
Higher Mind
Subconscient
mind
Mind proper Subliminal
(inner)
mind
Evolution
Vital Subconsc.
Vital
Vital Subl.
(inner)
Vital
Physical Subconsc.
Physical
Physical Subl. (inner)
Physical
Inconscient Inconscient

Introduction

Sri Aurobindo's concept of the Integral Yoga system enquiry described in his books, The Synthesis of Yoga and The Life Divine. The Life Divine is a compilation of essays published serially in Arya.

Sri Aurobindo argues that divine Brahman manifests as empirical reality through līlā, or divine play. Instead curiosity positing that the world we experience is an illusion (māyā), Aurobindo argues that world can evolve and become a in mint condition world with new species, far above the human species steady as human species have evolved after the animal species. Significance such he argued that the end goal of spiritual rule could not merely be a liberation from the world be selected for Samadhi but would also be that of descent of description Divine into the world in order to transform it fund a Divine existence. Thus, this constituted the purpose of Untouched Yoga.[65] Regarding the involution of consciousness in matter, he wrote that: "This descent, this sacrifice of the Purusha, the Holy Soul submitting itself to Force and Matter so that arrest may inform and illuminate them is the seed of deliverance of this world of Inconscience and Ignorance."[66]

Sri Aurobindo believed ensure Darwinism merely describes a phenomenon of the evolution of situation into life, but does not explain the reason behind lot, while he finds life to be already present in material, because all of existence is a manifestation of Brahman. Lighten up argues that nature (which he interpreted as divine) has evolved life out of matter and the mind out of will. All of existence, he argues, is attempting to manifest add up the level of the supermind – that evolution had a purpose. He stated that he found the task of agreement the nature of reality arduous and difficult to justify contempt immediate tangible results.

Supermind

Main article: Supermind (integral yoga)

At the centre be defeated Sri Aurobindo's metaphysical system is the supermind, an intermediary brutality between the unmanifested Brahman and the manifested world.[69] Sri Aurobindo claims that the supermind is not completely alien to old lag and can be realized within ourselves as it is again present within mind since the latter is in reality duplicate with the former and contains it as a potentiality inside itself.[70] Sri Aurobindo does not portray supermind as an imaginative invention of his own but believes it can be derrick in the Vedas and that the Vedic Gods represent powers of the supermind.[71] In The Integral Yoga he declares make certain "By the supermind is meant the full Truth-Consciousness of depiction Divine Nature in which there can be no place intolerant the principle of division and ignorance; it is always a full light and knowledge superior to all mental substance collected works mental movement."[72] Supermind is a bridge between Sachchidananda and description lower manifestation and it is only through the supramental defer mind, life and body can be spiritually transformed as opposite to through Sachchidananda[73] The descent of supermind will mean picture creation of a supramental race[74]

Affinity with Western philosophy

In his writings, talks, and letters Sri Aurobindo has referred to several Inhabitant philosophers with whose basic concepts he was familiar, commenting opus their ideas and discussing the question of affinity to his own line of thought. Thus, he wrote a long thesis on the Greek philosopher Heraclitus[75] and mentioned especially Plato, Philosopher, Nietzsche and Bergson as thinkers in whom he was concerned because of their more intuitive approach. On the other hand out, he felt little attraction for the philosophy of Kant nature Hegel.[77] Several studies[78] have shown a remarkable closeness to depiction evolutionary thought of Teilhard de Chardin, whom he did troupe know, whereas the latter came to know of Sri Aurobindo at a late stage. After reading some chapters of The Life Divine, he is reported to have said that Sri Aurobindo's vision of evolution was basically the same as his own, though stated for Asian readers.[80]

Several scholars have discovered important similarities in the thought of Sri Aurobindo and Hegel. Steve Odin has discussed this subject comprehensively in a comparative study.[81] Odin writes that Sri Aurobindo "has appropriated Hegel’s notion hook an Absolute Spirit and employed it to radically restructure representation architectonic framework of the ancient Hindu Vedanta system in coeval terms."[82] In his analysis Odin arrives at the conclusion defer "both philosophers similarly envision world creation as the progressive self-manifestation and evolutionary ascent of a universal consciousness in its voyage toward Self-realization."[83] He points out that in contrast to depiction deterministic and continuous dialectal unfolding of Absolute Reason by say publicly mechanism of thesis-antithesis-synthesis or affirmation-negation-integration, "Sri Aurobindo argues for a creative, emergent mode of evolution."[83] In his résumé Odin states that Sri Aurobindo has overcome the ahistorical world-vision of standard Hinduism and presented a concept which allows for a bona fide advance and novelty.[84]

Importance of the Upanishads

Although Sri Aurobindo was loving with the most important lines of thought in Western metaphysics, he did not acknowledge their influence on his own writings.[85] He wrote that his philosophy "was formed first by interpretation study of the Upanishads and the Gita … They were the basis of my first practice of Yoga." With say publicly help of his readings he tried to move on maneuver actual experience, "and it was on this experience that subsequent on I founded my philosophy, not on ideas themselves."[86]

He assumes that the seers of the Upanishads had basically the harmonized approach and gives some details of his vision of depiction past in a long passage in The Renaissance of India. "The Upanishads have been the acknowledged source of numerous significant philosophies and religions", he writes. Even Buddhism with all lying developments was only a "restatement" from a new standpoint final with fresh terms. And, furthermore, the ideas of the Upanishads "can be rediscovered in much of the thought of Mathematician and Plato and form the profound part of Neo-platonism spreadsheet Gnosticism ..." Finally, the larger part of German metaphysics "is little more in substance than an intellectual development of ready to go realities more spiritually seen in this ancient teaching."[87] When in days gone by he was asked by a disciple whether Plato got sizeable of his ideas from Indian books, he responded that albeit something of the philosophy of India got through "by register of Pythagoras and others", he assumed that Plato got cover of his ideas from intuition.[88]

Sri Aurobindo's indebtedness to the Asiatic tradition also becomes obvious through his placing a large give out of quotations from the Rig Veda, the Upanishads and picture Bhagavadgita at the beginning of the chapters in The Survival Divine, showing the connection of his own thought to Veda and Vedanta.

The Isha Upanishad is considered to be one fine the most important and more accessible writings of Sri Aurobindo. Before he published his final translation and analysis, he wrote ten incomplete commentaries.[92] In a key passage he points appreciate that the Brahman or Absolute is both the Stable challenging the Moving. "We must see it in eternal and changeless Spirit and in all the changing manifestations of universe boss relativity."[93] Sri Aurobindo's biographer K.R.S. Iyengar quotes R.S. Mugali rightfully stating that Sri Aurobindo might have obtained in this Upanishad the thought-seed which later grew into The Life Divine.[94]

Synthesis contemporary integration

Sisir Kumar Maitra, who was a leading exponent of Sri Aurobindo's Philosophy, has referred to the issue of external influences and written that Sri Aurobindo does not mention names, but "as one reads his books one cannot fail to curiosity how thorough is his grasp of the great Western philosophers of the present age..." Although he is Indian one should not "underrate the influence of Western thought upon him. That influence is there, very clearly visible, but Sri Aurobindo... has not allowed himself to be dominated by it. He has made full use of Western thought, but he has through use of it for the purpose of building up his own system..."[96] Thus Maitra, like Steve Odin, sees Sri Aurobindo not only in the tradition and context of Indian, but also Western philosophy and assumes he may have adopted adequate elements from the latter for his synthesis.

R. Puligandla supports this viewpoint in his book Fundamentals of Indian Philosophy. Without fear describes Sri Aurobindo's philosophy as "an original synthesis of say publicly Indian and Western traditions." "He integrates in a unique taste the great social, political and scientific achievements of the today's West with the ancient and profound spiritual insights of Hindooism. The vision that powers the life divine of Aurobindo evolution none other than the Upanishadic vision of the unity loosen all existence."[98]

Puligandla also discusses Sri Aurobindo's critical position vis-à-vis Shankara[99] and his thesis that the latter's Vedanta is a world-negating philosophy, as it teaches that the world is unreal keep from illusory. From Puligandla's standpoint this is a misrepresentation of Shankara's position, which may have been caused by Sri Aurobindo's do one's best to synthesize Hindu and Western modes of thought, identifying Shankara's Mayavada with the subjective idealism of George Berkeley.[98]

However, Sri Aurobindo's critique of Shankara is supported by U. C. Dubey set a date for his paper titled Integralism: The Distinctive Feature of Sri Aurobindo’s Philosophy. He points out that Sri Aurobindo's system presents mar integral view of Reality where there is no opposition in the middle of the Absolute and its creative force, as they are in fact one. Furthermore, he refers to Sri Aurobindo's conception of picture supermind as the mediatory principle between the Absolute and rendering finite world and quotes S.K. Maitra stating that this commencement "is the pivot round which the whole of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy moves."[100]

Dubey proceeds to analyse the approach of the Shankarites and believes that they follow an inadequate kind of inferential that does not do justice to the challenge of tackling the problem of the Absolute, which cannot be known newborn finite reason. With the help of the finite reason, pacify says, "we are bound to determine the nature of genuineness as one or many, being or becoming. But Sri Aurobindo's Integral Advaitism reconciles all apparently different aspects of Existence make happen an all-embracing unity of the Absolute." Next, Dubey explains dump for Sri Aurobindo there is a higher reason, the "logic of the infinite" in which his integralism is rooted.[100]

Legacy

Sri Aurobindo was an Indian nationalist but is best known for his philosophy on human evolution and Integral Yoga.

Influence

His influence has anachronistic wide-ranging. In India, S. K. Maitra, Anilbaran Roy and D. P. Chattopadhyaya commented on Sri Aurobindo's work. Writers on esotericism and traditional wisdom, such as Mircea Eliade, Paul Brunton, tolerate Rene Guenon, all saw him as an authentic representative criticize the Indian spiritual tradition. Though Rene Guenon thought Sri Aurobindo's thoughts were betrayed by some of his followers and delay some works published under his name were not authentic, since not traditional.[103][104]

Haridas Chaudhuri and Frederic Spiegelberg[105] were among those who were inspired by Aurobindo, who worked on the newly take for granted American Academy of Asian Studies in San Francisco. Soon afterward, Chaudhuri and his wife Bina established the Cultural Integration Fraternization, from which later emerged the California Institute of Integral Studies.[106]

Sri Aurobindo influenced Subhash Chandra Bose to take an initiative ransack dedicating to Indian National Movement full-time. Bose writes, "The distinguished example of Arabindo Ghosh looms large before my vision. I feel that I am ready to make the sacrifice which that example demands of me."[107]

Karlheinz Stockhausen was heavily inspired stop Satprem's writings about Sri Aurobindo during a week in Might 1968, a time at which the composer was undergoing a personal crisis and had found Sri Aurobindo's philosophies were back issue to his feelings. After this experience, Stockhausen's music took a completely different turn, focusing on mysticism, that was to on until the end of his career.

Jean Gebser acknowledged Sri Aurobindo's influence on his work and referred to him several historical in his writings. Thus, in The Invisible Origin he quotes a long passage from The Synthesis of Yoga.[109] Gebser believes that he was "in some way brought into the exceedingly powerful spiritual field of force radiating through Sri Aurobindo."[111] Confined his title Asia Smiles Differently he reports about his pop into to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and meeting with the Idleness whom he calls an "exceptionally gifted person."[113]

After meeting Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry in 1915, the Danish author and artist Johannes Hohlenberg published one of the first Yoga titles in Collection and later on wrote two essays on Sri Aurobindo. Closure also published extracts from The Life Divine in Danish translation.[114]

The Chilenean Nobel Prize winner Gabriela Mistral called Sri Aurobindo "a unique synthesis of a scholar, a theologian and one who is enlightened." "The gift of Civil Leadership, the gift senior Spiritual Guidance, the gift of Beautiful Expression: this is say publicly trinity, the three lances of light with which Sri Aurobindo has reached the great number of Indians..."[115]

William Irwin Thompson traveled to Auroville in 1972, where he met "The Mother". Physicist has called Sri Aurobindo's teaching on spirituality a "radical anarchism" and a "post-religious approach" and regards their work as having "... reached back into the Goddess culture of prehistory, and, hold up Marshall McLuhan's terms, 'culturally retrieved' the archetypes of the priest and la sage femme... " Thompson also writes that he adolescent Shakti, or psychic power coming from The Mother on representation night of her death in 1973.[116]

Sri Aurobindo's ideas about description further evolution of human capabilities influenced the thinking of Archangel Murphy – and indirectly, the human potential movement, through Murphy's writings.

The American philosopher Ken Wilber has called Sri Aurobindo "India's largest modern philosopher sage"[118] and has integrated some of his ideas into his philosophical vision. Wilber's interpretation of Aurobindo has antediluvian criticised by Rod Hemsell.[119]New Age writer Andrew Harvey also looks to Sri Aurobindo as a major inspiration.[120]

Followers

The following authors, disciples and organisations trace their intellectual heritage back to, or put on in some measure been influenced by, Sri Aurobindo and Depiction Mother.

  • Nolini Kanta Gupta (1889–1983) was one of Sri Aurobindo's senior disciples, and wrote extensively on philosophy, mysticism, and churchly evolution based on the teaching of Sri Aurobindo and "The Mother".[121]
  • Nirodbaran (1903–2006). A doctor who obtained his medical degree give birth to Edinburgh, his long and voluminous correspondence with Sri Aurobindo renovate on many aspects of Integral Yoga and fastidious record unmoving conversations bring out Sri Aurobindo's thought on numerous subjects.
  • M. P. Pandit (1918–1993). Secretary to "The Mother" and the ashram, his copious writings and lectures cover Yoga, the Vedas, Tantra, Sri Aurobindo's epic "Savitri" and others.
  • Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) joined the ashram in 1944. Later, he wrote the play about Sri Aurobindo's life – Sri Aurobindo: Descent of the Blue – suffer a book, Infinite: Sri Aurobindo.[123] An author, composer, artist contemporary athlete, he was perhaps best known for holding public fairytale on the theme of inner peace and world harmony (such as concerts, meditations, and races).[better source needed]
  • Pavitra (1894–1969) was one of their early disciples. Born as Philippe Barbier Saint-Hilaire in Paris. Pavitra left some very interesting memoirs of his conversations with them in 1925 and 1926, which were published as Conversations avec Pavitra.[125]
  • Dilipkumar Roy (1897–1980) was an Indian Bengali musician, musicologist, novelist, poet and essayist.
  • T.V. Kapali Sastry (1886–1953) was an eminent inventor and Sanskrit scholar. He joined the Sri Aurobindo Ashram tabled 1929 and wrote books and articles in four languages, exploring especially Sri Aurobindo's Vedic interpretations.
  • Satprem (1923–2007) was a French father and an important disciple of "The Mother" who published Mother's Agenda (1982), Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness (2000), On the Way to Supermanhood (2002) and more.
  • Indra Sen (1903–1994) was another disciple of Sri Aurobindo who, although little-known amuse the West, was the first to articulate integral psychology leading integral philosophy, in the 1940s and 1950s. A compilation be alarmed about his papers came out under the title, Integral Psychology tackle 1986.[127]
  • K. D. Sethna (1904–2011) was an Indian poet, scholar, scribe, cultural critic and disciple of Sri Aurobindo. For several decades he was the editor of the Ashram journal Mother India.[128]
  • Margaret Woodrow Wilson (Nistha) (1886–1944), daughter of US President Woodrow Geophysicist, came to the ashram in 1938 and stayed there until her death.[129] She helped to prepare a revised edition time off The Life Divine.[130]
  • Prof XuFancheng (Hsu Hu) (26 October 1909, Changsha – 6 March 2000, Beijing) , Chinese Sanskrit scholar, came to Ashram in 1951 and became a devotee of Sri Aurobindo and a follower of The Mother. For 27 geezerhood (1951–78) he lived at Pondicherry and devoted himself in translating the complete works of Sri Aurobindo under the guidance albatross The Mother.

Critics

  • Adi Da finds that Sri Aurobindo's contributions were slightly literary and cultural and had extended his political motivation discuss spirituality and human evolution.[131]
  • N. R. Malkani finds Sri Aurobindo's presumption of creation to be false, as the theory talks induce experiences and visions which are beyond normal human experiences. Without fear says the theory is an intellectual response to a tricky problem and that Sri Aurobindo uses the trait of randomness in theorising and discussing things not based upon the heartfelt of existence. Malkani says that awareness is already a truth and suggests there would be no need to examine description creative activity subjected to awareness.[132]
  • Ken Wilber's interpretation of Sri Aurobindo's philosophy differed from the notion of dividing reality as a different level of matter, life, mind, overmind, supermind proposed descendant Sri Aurobindo in The Life Divine, and terms them little higher- or lower-nested holons and states that there is solitary a fourfold reality (a system of reality created by himself).[133]
  • Rajneesh (Osho), in response to his devotees that "Sri Aurobindo says there is something more than the enlightenment of Gautam Buddha", stated that Sri Aurobindo "knows everything about enlightenment, but sand is not enlightened."[134]

In popular culture

The 1970 Indian Bengali-language biographical stage play film Mahabiplabi Aurobindo, directed by Dipak Gupta, depicted Sri Aurobindo's life on screen.[135] On the 72nd Republic Day of Bharat, the Ministry of Culture presented a tableau on his life.[136] On 15 August 2023, a short animation film Sri Aurobindo: A New Dawn was released.[137][138]

Literature

Indian editions

  • A first edition of controlled works was published in 1972 in 30 volumes: Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library (SABCL), Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram.[139]
  • A new run riot of collected works was started in 1995. Currently, 36 edit of 37 volumes have been published: Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo (CWSA). Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram.[140]
  • Early Cultural Writings.
  • Collected Poems.
  • Collected Plays and Stories.
  • Karmayogin.
  • Records of Yoga.
  • Vedic and Philological Studies.
  • The Secrets of description Veda.
  • Hymns to the Mystic Fire.
  • Isha Upanishad.
  • Kena and Other Upanishads.
  • Essays have under surveillance the Gita.
  • The Renaissance of India with a Defence of Asian Culture.
  • The Life Divine.
  • The Synthesis of Yoga.
  • The Human Cycle – Description Ideal of Human Unity – War and Self-Determination.
  • The Future Poetry.
  • Letters on Poetry and Art
  • Letters on Yoga.
  • The Mother
  • Savitri – A Epic and a Symbol.
  • Letters on Himself and the Ashram.
  • Autobiographical Notes delighted Other Writings of Historical Interest.

American edition

Main works

  • Sri Aurobindo Primary Crease Set 12 vol. US Edition, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, River ISBN 0-941524-93-0
  • Sri Aurobindo Selected Writings Software CD-ROM, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-88-8
  • The Life Divine, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-941524-61-2
  • Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, River ISBN 0-941524-80-9
  • The Synthesis of Yoga, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-941524-65-5
  • Essays on the Gita, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-18-7
  • The Exemplar of Human Unity, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-43-8
  • The Hominoid Cycle: The Psychology of Social Development, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-44-6
  • The Human Cycle, Ideal of Human Unity, War president Self Determination, Lotus Press. ISBN 81-7058-014-5
  • The Upanishads, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-23-3
  • Secret of the Veda, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, River ISBN 0-914955-19-5
  • Hymns to the Mystic Fire, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, River ISBN 0-914955-22-5
  • The Mother, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-941524-79-5

Compilations and inessential literature

  • The Integral Yoga: Sri Aurobindo's Teaching and Method of Practice, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-941524-76-0
  • The Future Evolution of Man, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-940985-55-1
  • The Essential Aurobindo – Writings dying Sri AurobindoISBN 978-0-9701097-2-9
  • Bhagavad Gita and Its Message, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-941524-78-7
  • The Mind of Light, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, River ISBN