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Rating: 
Summary: Body, mind and spirit evolve.
Review: "The ascent to the divine Life is the human journey, the Work of works, the acceptable Sacrifice," Sri Aurobindo writes. "This alone is man's real business in the world and the justification of his existence" (pp. 55-6). Ken Wilber calls Aurobindo (1872-1950) a founder of integral spirituality and practice, and recognizes that "Aurobindo has much to teach us" about the integration of body, mind, soul and Spirit.This collection of "essential" writings will appeal to anyone interested in integral and evolutionary spirituality. Aurobindo teaches us that all beings are united in a reality of being and consciousness--"a self of all things, one and eternal" (p. 39)--beyond the appearances of the universe. He believes liberation is possible through the evolution of spiritual and supramental consciousness (p. 41). "There is therefore no reason to put a limit to evolutionary possibility by taking our present organisation or status of existence as final," he writes. "The animal is a laboratory in which Nature has worked out man; man may very well be a laboratory in which she wills to work out superman, to disclose the soul as a divine being, to evolve a divine nature" (p. 54). Aurobindo writes, "man is not a vegetable nor an animal; he is a spiritual and a thinking being who is here to set to shape and use the animal mould for higher purposes, by higher motives, with a divine instrumentation" (p. 176). Because "the hour of God" is close at hand, Aurobindo recommends cleansing the "soul of all self-deceit and hypocrisy and vain self-flattering that thou mayst look straight into thy spirit and hear that which summons it" (p. 191). "Make the work you have to do here your means of inner spiritual rebirth, the divine birth, and having become divine, do still divine works as an instrument of the Divine for the leading of the peoples" (p. 124). For those who enjoy reading Ken Wilber's books, and for those interested in living life with more spirit, this fascinating introduction to Aurobindo should not be missed. And for those readers who want to explore Aurobindo's ideas further, I recommend Dalal's A GREATER PSYCHOLOGY (2000) and Wilber's INTEGRAL PSYCHOLOGY (2000). G. Merritt
Rating:
Summary: Body, mind and spirit evolve.
Review: "The ascent to the divine Life is the human journey, the Work of works, the acceptable Sacrifice," Sri Aurobindo writes. "This alone is man's real business in the world and the justification of his existence" (pp. 55-6). Ken Wilber calls Aurobindo (1872-1950) a founder of integral spirituality and practice, and recognizes that "Aurobindo has much to teach us" about the integration of body, mind, soul and Spirit. This collection of "essential" writings will appeal to anyone interested in integral and evolutionary spirituality. Aurobindo teaches us that all beings are united in a reality of being and consciousness--"a self of all things, one and eternal" (p. 39)--beyond the appearances of the universe. He believes liberation is possible through the evolution of spiritual and supramental consciousness (p. 41). "There is therefore no reason to put a limit to evolutionary possibility by taking our present organisation or status of existence as final," he writes. "The animal is a laboratory in which Nature has worked out man; man may very well be a laboratory in which she wills to work out superman, to disclose the soul as a divine being, to evolve a divine nature" (p. 54). Aurobindo writes, "man is not a vegetable nor an animal; he is a spiritual and a thinking being who is here to set to shape and use the animal mould for higher purposes, by higher motives, with a divine instrumentation" (p. 176). Because "the hour of God" is close at hand, Aurobindo recommends cleansing the "soul of all self-deceit and hypocrisy and vain self-flattering that thou mayst look straight into thy spirit and hear that which summons it" (p. 191). "Make the work you have to do here your means of inner spiritual rebirth, the divine birth, and having become divine, do still divine works as an instrument of the Divine for the leading of the peoples" (p. 124). For those who enjoy reading Ken Wilber's books, and for those interested in living life with more spirit, this fascinating introduction to Aurobindo should not be missed. And for those readers who want to explore Aurobindo's ideas further, I recommend Dalal's A GREATER PSYCHOLOGY (2000) and Wilber's INTEGRAL PSYCHOLOGY (2000). G. Merritt
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