Sri aurobindo a brief biography of william
Aurobindo developed a theory of evolution and involution, outlining a path of spiritual progress. Instead, he focused on a spiritual evolution, from existence pervaded with a material nature to existence pervaded with a spiritual nature. He taught that humanity can evolve beyond its current state to become a perfect expression of Brahman.
According to Aurobindo, spirituality encourages the ascent of Matter into Spirit.
Sri aurobindo a brief biography of william: Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15
However, this evolution is not possible without the descent of Spirit into Matter, or involution. He taught that both Spirit and Matter are real parts of ultimate reality Brahmanand therefore, denying the existence of Matter is essentially denying an aspect of Brahman. He taught that Brahman exists both above the universe and within it.
These philosophical and cosmological themes are applied to Sri Aurobindo's vision of cosmic and human evolution. He argues that mankind as an entity is not the last rung in the evolutionary scale, but can evolve spiritually beyond its current limitations, moving out of an essential Ignorance born of creation, to a future state of Supramental existence.
This would be a Divine Life on Earth characterized by knowledge, truth, substance, and energy of supramental consciousness. Life Divine bk II, ch Matter, Life, Psyche, and Mind constitute the lower realms of existence, in which the regular mind exists. Supermind, Bliss, Conscious Force, and Existence constitute the higher realm of existence, in which the mind is overtaken with the Supermind.
A complete evolution through the eight stages does not necessarily involve a severance from the body, but a complete transformation of the mind. Aurobindo believed that a veil of ignorance exists which prevents the Mind from evolving into the Supermind. Only the Divine can remove the veil, but yoga practice can help facilitate this process.
Aurobindo believed that it is possible the Divine may come to remove the veil of ignorance, but if a person is not prepared, they may miss their chance to evolve from the Mind to the Supermind. To avoid this, the practice of Integral yoga can help to prepare humankind for ascent into Supermind. Practicing Integral yoga provides a greater sense of readiness for ascent into the higher realm of existence.
The process of the universe emerging from the Absolute is referred in The Life Divine as involution. The subsequent process of life emerging from matter and mind from life is evolution. Evolution is described as a dual movement; inward, away from the surface consciousness and into the depths, culminating in the Psychic Being the personal evolving soul ; and then upward to higher levels of spiritual mind Higher Mind, Illumined Mind, Intuitive Mind, and Overmindculminating in the final stage of supramentalization.
In after four years of concentrated yoga at Pondicherry, Sri Aurobindo launched Arya, a page monthly review. For the next six and a half years this became the vehicle for the majority of his most important writings, which appeared in serialised form. Sri Aurobindo however revised some of these works before they were published in book form.
He also wrote a very small book entitled The Mother, which was first published in It provided instructions for the spiritual aspirant of "Integral Yoga.
Sri aurobindo a brief biography of william: a yogi, seer, philosopher, poet,
In addition to this prolific output, Sri Aurobindo also wrote an epic poem titled, Savitri, which he continued to revise for the rest of his life. Following his retirement from public life inhe maintained a voluminous correspondence with his disciples. His letters, most of which were written in the s, numbered in the several thousands, and some of these were later published in three volumes as Letters on Yoga.
Sri Aurobindo has had a significant impact on Eastern and Western thought. The incorporation of evolutionary ideas into Hindu philosophy provided Hinduism with an infusion of modernity. One of Sri Aurobindo's main contributions to Indian philosophy was to introduce the concept of evolution into Vedantic thought. Samkhya philosophy had already proposed such a notion centuries earlier, but Aurobindo rejected the materialistic tendencies of both Darwinism and Samkhya, and proposed an evolution of spirit rather than matter.
He rejected the Hindu doctrine of Maya the illusionary world found in Advaita Vedantaand suggested a linkage between the ineffable Brahman or Absolute and the world of multiplicity by positing a transitional hypostasis between the two, which he called "The Supermind. In addition, Sri Aurobindo's ideas about the further evolution of human capabilities influenced the thinking of Michael Murphy who stayed at Sri Aurobindo's Ashram in India for eighteen months — and indirectly, the human potential movement, through Murphy's writings.
Satish K. Stephen H. Phillips, Philosophy East and West Honolulu Sri Aurobindo: A Brief Biography is written in a lucid style, is highly readable, and takes the reader along the journey of a remarkable life. Share this: Twitter Facebook. Like Loading By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use. Apart from these rare forays in public comment, Sri Aurobindo concentrated on his inner work and writings.
In NovemberSri Aurobindo broke his leg and retreated, even more, seeing only a small number of close disciples. However, he kept his written correspondence with them. Aurobindo felt his real calling was to bring down a spiritual consciousness.
Sri aurobindo a brief biography of william: Sri Aurobindo: A brief biography. Oxford
He expressed his spiritual philosophy. Sri Aurobindo once wrote that it is impossible to write a biography of a spiritual Master because so much of their life happens on the inner plane and not outer plane. It marks for her the end of an old era, the beginning of a new age, but we can also make it by our own life and acts as a free nation, an important date in a new age opening to the whole world for the political, social, cultural and spiritual future of humanity.
August 15 is my own birthday and it is naturally gratifying to me that it should have assumed this vast difference. I take this coincidence not as a fortuitous accident, but as the sanction and seal of the divine force that guides my steps on the work with which I began life, the beginning of its full fruition. Indeed on this day, he says, I can watch almost all the world movements which I hope to see fulfilled in my lifetime; though then they looked like impracticable dreams arriving at fruition or on their way to achievement.
In all these movements, free India may well play a large part and take a leading position. On 5 Decemberat the age of 78, Sri Aurobindo left his physical body. Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan. Published 3rd August Last updated 19 February Sri Aurobindo life had two very distinct phases. The political and the spiritual. After returning to India, Aurobindo was a foremost leader of the Indian revolutionary movement.
Preferring to work out of the limelight, he was still a powerful force in raising Indian aspirations to work for complete independence from the British. Political career. Speeches and books. Integral yoga Intermediate zone Supermind. Matrimandir Pondicherry. Sri Aurobindo Ashram Auroville. The Mother Champaklal N. Pandit P. Bhattacharya A.
Purani D. Journals and forums. Teachers Acharyas. Ramanuja Vedanta Desika. Madhvacharya Jayatirtha Vyasatirtha. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Tantra Shakta. Vivekananda Aurobindo Radhakrishnan. Major texts. Biography [ edit ]. Early life [ edit ]. England — [ edit ]. Baroda and Calcutta — [ edit ]. Main article: Political history of Sri Aurobindo. See also: Anushilan Samiti.
Conversion from politics to spirituality [ edit ]. Pondicherry — [ edit ]. Mirra Alfassa The Mother and the development of the Ashram [ edit ]. Philosophy and spiritual vision [ edit ]. Main article: Integral yoga. Introduction [ edit ]. Supermind [ edit ]. Main article: Supermind integral yoga. Affinity with Western philosophy [ edit ].
Importance of the Upanishads [ edit ]. Synthesis and integration [ edit ]. Legacy [ edit ]. Influence [ edit ]. Followers [ edit ]. Critics [ edit ]. In popular culture [ edit ]. Literature [ edit ]. Indian editions [ edit ]. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Collected Poems. Collected Plays and Stories. Records of Yoga. Vedic and Philological Studies.
The Secrets of the Veda. Hymns to the Mystic Fire. Isha Upanishad. Kena and Other Upanishads. Essays on the Gita. The Life Divine. The Synthesis of Yoga. The Future Poetry. Letters on Poetry and Art Letters on Yoga. Letters on Himself and the Ashram. American edition [ edit ]. Main works [ edit ]. Compilations and sri aurobindo a brief biography of william literature [ edit ].
ISBN Comparative studies [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Barindra was born in England in January Aurobindo was recorded in the census as Aravinda Ghose, as he was also by the University of Cambridge. The Statesman. Archived from the original on 18 January Retrieved 18 January The Hindu. Archived from the original on 16 August Retrieved 17 August Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department.
Archived from the original on 5 February Retrieved 19 June Lotus Press. Bengal: change and continuity, Issues 16— OCLC Aurobindo's father, Dr. Ghose had his medical training in Edinburgh The Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo. Vol Autobiographical Notes, pg Archived from the original on 28 July Jadavpur University Website. Archived from the original on 13 November Iyengar, Sri Aurobindo — a biography and a historyPondicherry,p.
It did not catch on at that time. Har-Anand Publications. The Nobel Prize. April Archived from the original on 8 September Shri Aurobindo's death - Colombo plan - Foreign Policy. New Delhi: India News Chronicle. Archived from the original on 10 June Retrieved 31 August — via National Archives of India.