About the Book

In this collection of letters, Sri Aurobindo explains the fundamental principles and practices of his system of Yoga. The philosophical and psychological foundations of his spiritual teaching are taken up in the first quarter of the book. The remaining portion deals with his method of spiritual practice. The subjects include:

The Integral Yoga and the ordinary life.

The Integral Yoga and other systems of Yoga

Planes of consciousness and parts of the being

The Divine and the Divine Force

Bases of Yoga

Sadhana through work, meditation and love

The triple transformation

Difficulties in transforming the nature

Human relationship in Yoga

Publisher's Note

This compilation consists of letters by Sri Aurobindo on various aspects of his spiritual teaching and method of yogic practice. Parts 1 to 4 deal mainly with the philosophical and psychological foundations of the teaching, Parts 5 to 11 with the method of practice, and Part 12 with elements of both.

Sri Aurobindo called his system the "Integral Yoga" because it proposed "a union [yoga] in all parts of our being with the Divine and a consequent transmutation of all their now jarring elements into the harmony of a higher divine consciousness and existence".

Sri Aurobindo wrote most of the letters during the 1930s to men and women living in his ashram in Pondicherry, India. At this time he was concentrated on his own spiritual practice and saw and spoke with practically no one; but he kept in touch with the seekers who had gathered around him by means of correspondence. The disciples sent him letters or diaries recounting events in their inward and outward lives. He replied, sometimes at length, sometimes simply by making marginal notations.

The letters included in this compilation have been selected from the more than two thousand pages of letters published in various volumes of the Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library. References to these volumes are given at the end of the compilation. Generally the entire published letter has been reproduced. A few long letters dealing with two or more subjects have been split up and reproduced in different sections. Some material not thought relevant to the compilation has been cut out. Such omissions are indicated by ellipsis points ( ... ).

Readers should keep in mind that each letter was written to a particular individual on a particular occasion. Sri Aurobindo once cautioned: The tendency to take what I lay down for one and apply it without discrimination to another is responsible for much misunderstanding. A general statement, too, true in itself, cannot be applied to everyone alike or applied now and immediately without consideration of condition or circumstance or person or time.

In all his writings Sri Aurobindo used words from Sanskrit and other Indian languages. He also employed certain English words ("psychic", "vital") in his own way and coined a number of terms ("supermind", "environmental consciousness"). Readers not familiar with Sri Aurobindo's terminology are encouraged to consult the Glossary at the end of the volume.

This compilation was prepared by Peter Heehs and Bob Zwicker of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives and Research Library.

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