The Penguin Sri Aurobindo Reader

A single-volume guide to the writing and thoughts of one of the greatest personalities of modern India A multifaceted genius, Sri Aurobindo was a political revolutionary, social critic, poet and above all, a great yogi and spiritual teacher. He was not only one of our foremost interpreters of the Vedas, Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, but also developed an original philosophy, which, though based on the ancient wisdom of India, has a modern, evolutionary dimension to it-the human being, according to him, is not the end of the evolutionary process; our destiny is to grow to a higher state of consciousness which will fundamentally alter life as we know it. As a writer, Sri Aurobindo’s range was staggering-there is hardly a field of human endeavour that escaped his notice. This collection offers a sampling of his writings with selections from most of his major works and areas of interest. It begins with the early, often-ignored essays written during the struggle for Independence and traces the development of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophical and religious thought, culminating in the system of Integral Yoga. Also included are some of his poems, letters and aphorisms. Together, they provide an ideal introduction to the complex and brilliant mind of a remarkable yogi and seer-poet.