The Synthesis of Yoga - Super school Auroville - The Synthesis of Yoga 401

Now we come to the question of Integral Yoga.

Integral Yoga is the integration of the aims of all the systems of yoga. Second, you integrate all the instruments. And thirdly you integrate all the processes. But if you unite all the processes of the different yogas it will be such a long process that it may not be finished in one lifetime at all, it will take many, many, many lives. Therefore it would seem that integration is impossible. There must be some other method. This is what Sri Aurobindo made a deep study about: how to integrate all the objects, all the instruments, all the processes? It is a very difficult question. Then he found out that all the processes whether they are from Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga or Jnana Yoga have one thing common to all of them: this is concentration. You don’t need to do individually all the processes, which are appropriate to every yoga. He found that the common principle in all the yogas is concentration. Then he found that concentration become perfect when you undertake two other processes. One is a process of purification. And the second is a process of development. You develop your faculties and you purify them. The more you purify the greater will be the concentration.

What is the meaning of purification? Purification consists of removing mixtures. You find that everything is us is mixed. Even if you want to think in purity you will find that in the time of thinking emotions will interfere, will will interfere, desires will interfere. So you should have a process of dispassionate thinking. This is a process of purification. Very often when you want to will it becomes a mixture again. Will gets mixed with doubt. How can you will when there is a doubt? You have to purify your will and allow no doubt to interfere with your will. Then you can will properly - unmixed. When you have great emotion ideas begin to flicker in the emotions, so pure emotion is obstructed. Even while loving you doubt, intellectual doubts come. Your love also is affected. There should purity of love, there is no mixture, love for the sake of love and nothing else, Then the love become powerful. First of all there is a removal of mixtures of the functioning of your faculties. You take every faculty and you purify it. When you exercise one faculty another faculty should not interfere. This is one process of purification. It is a long exercise but if you do this with regard to all the faculties, you have Integral Yoga. In the case of other yogas only one faculty is taken up and purified, others are only silent, they are not purified, they are just not allowed to function at all. If you are doing Jnana Yoga only the intellect is purified, but will and emotion are simply put aside. They are not purified, they are not developed. Therefore the result is only limited. But in Integral Yoga you purify your will, your emotions, your intellect, your body and your mind. It is an integral purification. If you know the process, then whenever there is a movement - if you are thinking, purify your thoughts, if you are having emotions, purify your emotion, if you are willing, purify your will at the same time, simultaneously. All this takes a shorter time. And each purification helps the purification of the other. If you purify the intellect, emotions also are purified, will also is purified. This is one aspect of purification. The mixture of functioning of different faculties is removed. Every faculty is tuned; purified. This is one process.

Second process is - there is always another mixture in our consciousness, mixture of ignorance with everything. We will ignorantly, we think ignorantly, we love ignorantly. Ignorance is a great mixture. With everything and anything you do ignorance is present - in all the activities. Therefore in all activities, act with knowledge. Instead of ignorance illumine. Illumine everything, illumine your heart, illumine your mind, illumine your will, illumine your emotions. When you put a flame everything is purified. Even physically when you put something in a fire it is purified. You have to put the fire of illumination, you have to think rightly, will rightly, love rightly. One general principle is Truth. The fire of Truth is the great power of purification, Burn, burn, burn all the time. A little spark will become then a seven ton fire - this is the image of the Veda. In that purification, in the process of that fire, everything is thrown, all the impurities and they are burnt away. And you emerge pure, golden, and absolutely perfect. Sri Aurobindo has said that this purification means removal of mixtures and mixtures are of two kinds: mixtures of faculties and mixtures of all functionings with ignorance. That means integral purification. When all the faculties are clarified in their distinctions; when all the faculties are burnt with the power of the Truth ignorance is destroyed, then you get an integral purification and multiple tons of fire begin to burn in your being. That is a very important process and when you do this your concentration is perfect. When there are no mixtures or no ignorance, concentration is automatic. You don’t have to sit down hours and hours and hours like the kurma, the tortoise which withdraws to be able to dwell, it takes such a long time. We have a very easy process. This is what Sri Aurobindo discovered: if you purify yourself integrally your concentration becomes integral, perfect concentration.

The second process: development. Along with the process of purification you should have also a process of development, development of your intellect, development of your mind of your emotions, of your will, will-power. If you develop all your faculties concentration is automatic afterwards. What you are doing now in this process, when you sit in this class you are developing your mind and your intellect very sharply. If you examine what you were six months ago and now you will find a tremendous upward movement that you have taken in the mind, everyone of you. How much your intellect has developed? Similarly you have to have exercises of development of the will. That also you should do. Whenever you have to will - I must study for five hours at a stretch, have the will and sit down and see who can disturb you for five hours of study with concentration. Develop this will. You decide that you will do it, again and again and again. You decide and having decided you hold to the resolution - Yes I will do it. It must be done. No excuse at all. I must not fall ill because very often our body is a very tricky thing. If it does not want to attend to something the body falls ill. Even if illness comes the body must say: “Even if I fall ill I will do it.” That is the power of the will. “In spite of everything and anything I will do it.”