Ghose, Sri Aurobindo

Abstract

Sri Aurobindo Ghose (1872–1950) was a philosopher, poet, translator, political activist against the British rule in India, Yogi, and guru. Unlike other mystics, philosophical argumentation was not foreign to him, even if his yogic, or mystic experience, was his foremost “source of knowledge.” In his magnum opus,The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo articulates his “disharmony argument,” intended to substantiate his “grand conclusion” about future evolution towards the utopian situation which he refers to as “life divine.” Aurobindo's notion of “evolution” corresponds with that of Darwin, but he takes this concept in a new direction. He envisions “volitional evolution,” in which the human consciousness “evolves” owing to the yogic work of the aspirant, with the purpose of establishing a salient connection between “earth” and “beyond.” His “integral yoga” is intended to change the world, in tune with his outlook highlighting the interconnectedness between the metaphysical and the historical, political, and even social.