Readings In Integral Yoga Sri Aurobindo S Teaching Method Of Practice

Sri Aurobindo calls us to what he terms an “adventure of consciousness”. Integral yoga was not intended to set forth a specific and rigid set of practices for everyone to follow; rather, it was developed to understand the specific needs of each individual at each stage of development and to employ those methods and practices that would best aid in the further progress for the individual seeker. It also was not targeted at abandoning life. The integral yoga first focuses on achieving the necessary liberation from the fixed habits of body, life and mind that create a framework around each person's life, and then, on bringing down into the being a higher status of consciousness and aiding its transformation of the being in all its aspects. The eventual objective of the integral yoga was to provide conscious support to the natural process of evolution of consciousness, and thereby speed up its advent. The book Integral Yoga: Sri Aurobindo's Teaching and Method of Practice was compiled and organised from among the thousands of letters on yoga that Sri Aurobindo wrote to disciples and others over a number of years. It outlines his philosophical outlook, the background and basis of the integral yoga, and delves into a vast array of details which aid the sincere seeker in understanding the inner workings of consciousness, and helps the seeker to work through the difficulties, obstacles and resistances of nature to truly bring about a transformation of consciousness in all parts of his being.

Between 1927 and 1950, Sri Aurobindo--one of the foremost Indian philosophersof the 20th century--perfected a new kind of spiritual practice he called the"Integral Yoga." This volume brings together a comprehensive selection of SriAurobindo's letters pertaining to the practice of this discipline.

A compilation of letters written by Sri Aurobindo to disciples during the 1930s, this book presents the major aspects of his spiritual teaching. The first parts deal with the psychological and philosophical foundations of his teaching and relate them to other systems of yoga and philosophy. The next sections deal with the method of practice, starting with the bases of yoga and continuing with the different types of sadhana, descriptions of experiences and realisations, the triple transformation that defines the essence of the yoga, and the difficulties in transforming the nature. A glossary of the terminology used by Sri Aurobindo completes the volume.

Santosh highlights key relevant points of Aurobindo's Essays on the Gita, explains them and reveals their depth and implications today. Each of his well-chosen selections and lucid comments constitutes a luminous doorway into the heart of the Gita. Santosh shows us how we should approach great teachings like those of Sri Aurobindo and make them relevant for our current search, helping to lift humanity into a new era of higher consciousness that is so desperately needed.

Bases of Yoga by Sri Aurobindo is a collection of 156 extracts from his letters to disciples, Sri Aurobindo explains the central principles and practices of his Integral Yoga.

Readings in Sri Aurobindo's The Life Divine Volume 1 There is probably no other book [Sri Aurobindo's The Life Divine] that I know of which so well, completely, rationally and intuitively addresses the questions of our existence and the meaning of life, and provides a cogent answer rooted in the highest spiritual realization and yogic experience that can be adapted by all, regardless of their particular background or inclinations. Santosh Krinsky, a life long student of Sri Aurobindo, with great devotion, dedication and attention has served this crucial role of providing a bridge to help us enter more deeply into the vast universe of consciousness that Aurobindo holds open for humanity today. He leads the reader through each page of The Life Divine by extracting its essence. In this way, he makes the the book easier to access, with no loss of its broader meaning. - from the Foreword by Dr. David Frawley, author of Yoga and Ayurveda

What is psychological health and growth? Western psychology tends to define psychological health as the absence of various forms of extreme disturbance or disruption. "Normal" levels of dissatisfaction, upset-ness, are considered to be both acceptable and part of everyday life. It is only when someone experiences a psychological state that drifts into total disorientation, violence, suicidal thoughts, or disassociation from the expectations of society that psychology labels the behavior as unhealthy or harmful. There is, however, another way to look at the issue of psychological health and growth, and that is to affirm the development of positive attributes as representing health. Thus, the individual can find and implement measures to create forward looking and positive directions in his life, and contextualize the obstacles or issues that arise as challenges to be met and overcome along the way. Western psychology has a very rudimentary view of human psychology, perhaps due to the fact that as a science it has been around for a very short period of time and has not yet had the opportunity to look into the vast ranges of human psychology and the complexity of the various aspects of our being and their interaction with one another. Nowadays, as Western psychology has developed, more emphasis is being placed on the wider field of human growth and empowerment, and thus, Western psychology is entering a field long known to the yogic practitioners of India who long ago codified the actions of mind, life and body and found ways to enhance the developmental powers of existence. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras set forth a systematic approach to psychological development, for instance. Many yogic practices are based in a deep understanding of human psychology. In the present volume, Dr. A.S. Dalal bridges the gap between Western psychology and Eastern spirituality as he explores the detailed inner workings of human life and provides at the same time a way of understanding, based on the ground-breaking work of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, which puts the human potential for self-exceeding front and center. Dr. Dalal has compiled this book from the writings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother after first providing a detailed introduction and outline of their approach to facing issues, overcoming disturbances and enhancing peace, creativity, growth and satisfaction in life. He calls upon the principles of yogic psychology to show us the way beyond reactions of anger, fear, anxiety and depression, as well as how to achieve positive mental health and psychological growth. (from the Introduction)