Sri Aurobindo and Integral Yoga - Foreword

Foreword

ONE OF the areas of research promoted by the Dharam Hinduja International Centre of Indic Research is to explore Yogic knowledge contained in the Indian tradition and to examine how that knowledge is relevant to the needs of the contemporary world which Sri Aurobindo had characterised as those of 'evolutionary crisis'. The centre has set up a Working Group for 'Yoga as Science', which has been engaged in the study of various aspects of Yogic efforts recorded from the Vedic times to the present day. The papers collected in this volume are related to Sri Aurobindo and his Integral Yoga and were presented at the meetings of the Working Group during 1997. The paper on 'Bondage, Liberation and Perfection was presented at the international seminar held on 14> July 1997 under the auspices of another Working Group on 'Spiritual Experiences in the Indian Tradition of Philosophy' in collaboration with the Department of Philosophy, University of Delhi. A few relevant extracts from the writings and letters of Sri Aurobindo are presented in the appendix.

As the year (1997-98) happens to be the 125th birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo, we are immensely gratified that the publication of this monograph synchronises with this important event. It is also significant that 1997-98 is the fiftieth anniversary of India's independence, particularly as we recall that Sri Aurobindo worked for independence right from the first decade of this century, when he emerged as one of the pioneering leaders of the nationalist movement.

This book is introductory in nature and, for a fuller account of the topics covered here, the reader is referred to such important works like Sri Aurobindo's The Synthesis of Yoga, The Life Divine, The Secret of the Veda, and Essays on the Gita, as well

as Mother's works, which include thirteen volumes of Mother's Agenda, containing the records of the latest developments of the Integral Yoga. The reader is also referred to Satprem's Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, and his biography of The Mother, in three volumes, Divine Materialism, The New Species and Mutation of Death.

I wish to thank all the scholars who participated in the meetings of the concerned Working Groups and especially those who chaired these meetings Dr T.N. Seshan, Professor S.P. Singh, Dr (Mrs) Shashi Sharma, Dr Ramarao Pappu, Mr Justice Shiv Dayal, and Professor S.R. Bhatt. I am also thankful to Professor M.M. Sankhdher who convened all these meetings.

MADHAV K. MANGALMURTI
President, Hinduja Foundation