'Essays in Philosophy and Yoga' by Sri Aurobindo - Page1 of 50 Rebirth and Soul Evolution   THE IDEAS that men currently form about life and things are for the most part pragmatic constructions They are forms of a reason which is concerned with giving only such a serviceable account to itself of its surroundings as shall make a sufficient clue to our immediate business of the growth, action, satisfaction of the personality, something feasible, livable, effective for our journeying in Time, something viable in the twofold French sense of the word Whether it corresponds to or is directly in touch with any real reality of things seems to be very much a matter of accide

The Significance of Rebirth   THE ONE question which through all its complexities is the sum of philosophy and to which all human enquiry comes round in the end, is the problem of ourselves, —why we are here and what we are, and what is behind and before and around us, and what we are to do with ourselves, our inner significances and our outer environment In the idea of evolutionary rebirth, if we can once find it to be a truth and recognise its antecedents and consequences, we have a very sufficient clue for an answer to all these connected sides of the one perpetual question A spiritual evolution

The Delight of Works   IN THY works there are always these three, the Master, the Worker and the Instrument To define them in oneself rightly and rightly to possess them is the secret of works and of the delight of works. Learn thou first to be the instrument of God and to accept thy Master The instrument is this outward thing thou callest thyself; it is a mould of mind, a driving-force of power, a machinery of form, a thing full of springs and cogs and clamps and devices Call not this the Worker or the Master; it can never be the Worker or the Master Accept thyself humbly, yet proudly, devotedly, submissively and joyfully as a divine in

Stead and Maskelyne   THE VEXED question of spirit communication has become a subject of permanent public controversy in England So much that is of the utmost importance to our views of the world, religion, science, life, philosophy, is crucially interested in the decision of this question, that no fresh proof or disproof, establishment or refutation of the genuineness and significance of spirit communications can go disregarded But no discussion of the question which proceeds merely on first principles can be of any value It is a matter of evidence, of the value of the evidence and of the meaning of the evidence If the ascertained facts are in

'Essays in Philosophy and Yoga' by Sri Aurobindo - Page1 of 50 Section II   The Lines of Karma     The Foundation   THE IDEA of Karma has behind it two ideas that are its constituent factors, a law of Nature, of the energy or action of Nature, and a soul that lives under that law, puts out action into that energy and gets from it a return in accordance and measure with the character of its own activities And here certain considerations have at once intervened which it will not do to ignore This putting out of action and its return cannot have anything more than a mechanical importance, it cannot have a mental, moral and

Part Five   From the Bulletin of Physical Education   1949 ­ 1950     The Supramental Manifestation upon Earth     Message   I TAKE the opportunity of the publication of this issue of the "Bulletin d'Education Physique" of the Ashram to give my blessings to the Journal and the Association —JSASA (Jeunesse Sportive de l'Ashram de Sri Aurobindo) In doing so I  would like to dwell for a while on the deeper raison d'être of such Associations and especially the need and utility for the nation of a widespread organisation of them and such

'Essays in Philosophy and Yoga' by Sri Aurobindo - Page1 of 50 The Conservative Mind and Eastern Progress   THE ARRIVAL of a new radical idea in the minds of men is the sign of a great coming change in human life and society; it may be combated, the reaction of the old idea may triumph for a time, but the struggle never leaves either the thoughts and sentiments or the habits and institutions of the society as they were when it commenced Whether it knows it or not, it has gone forward and the change is irretrievable Either new forms replace the old institutions or the old while preserving the aspect of continuity have profoundly changed within, or else the

'Essays in Philosophy and Yoga' by Sri Aurobindo - Page1 of 50 The Process of Evolution   THE END of a stage of evolution is usually marked by a powerful recrudescence of all that has to go out of the evolution It is a principle of Nature that in order to get rid of any powerful tendency or deep-seated association in humanity, whether in the mass or in the individual, it has first to be exhausted by bhoga or enjoyment, afterwards to be dominated and weakened by nigraha or control and, finally, ˙ when it is weak, to be got rid of by samyama, rejection or self˙ dissociation The difference between nigraha and samyama is that in the first process there is a violent struggle to put down, co

Karma, Will and Consequence   WILL, KARMA and consequence are the three steps of the Energy which moves the universe But Karma and consequence are only the outcome of will or even its forms; will gives them their value and without it they would be nothing, nothing at least to man the thinking and growing soul and nothing, it may be hazarded, to the Spirit of which he is a flame and power as well as a creature The thing we first see or imagine we see, when we look at the outward mechanism of the universe, is energy and its works, action and consequence But by itself and without the light of an inhabiting will this working is only a huge soulless mechanism, a loud rattling o

Karmayoga   WE HAVE spoken of Karmayoga as the application of Vedanta and Yoga to life To many who take their knowledge of Hinduism second-hand this may seem a doubtful definition It is ordinarily supposed by "practical" minds that Vedanta as a guide to life and Yoga as a method of spiritual communion are dangerous things which lead men away from action to abstraction We leave aside those who regard all such beliefs as mysticism, self-delusion or imposture; but even those who reverence and believe in the high things of Hinduism have the impression that one must remove oneself from a full human activity in order to live the spiritual life Yet the spiritual life finds its mo