The Practice of the Integral Yoga

By Way of Explanation

The author owes a preliminary explanation to his readers; for, at first glance the title of the book may appear to some rather odd andutlandish, if not smacking of downright self-conceit.

Like a few of the author's earlier books, this book too owes its origin to the loving request of some of his students. During the last more than thirty years, in every academic Session many of the students of the Higher Course of SAICE ('Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education', Pondicherry) have studied under the guidance of the author various books of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother such as, The Life Divine, The Synthesis of Yoga, Essays on the Gita, Letters on Yoga, The Mother's Entretiens (in 13 Volumes), Mother's Commentaries on Sri Aurobindo' s Thoughts. and Aphorisms, etc.

The students have studied these books with great love and concentration. They have approached these seminal works, not with some intellectual academic interest, but mainly for comprehending the basics of the Integral Yoga as ushered in by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.

But a common complaint with many of these students has been that they often miss the beauty and the significance of the 'wood' because of concentrating on individual 'trees'. In other words, even after going through the hundreds of pages of many of the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother dealing with the Puma Yoga, they somehow lack in their comprehension that precision and clarity which are very much needed for putting the principles into actual practice. They find themselves at a loss to know for certain how to begin the Sadhana of the Integral Yoga and from which point and how to proceed methodically thereafter.

Now, at the end of their academic studies in our Higher Course, some of the students decide to join the Sri Aurobindo Ashram as serious practitioners of the Integral Yoga of Self-transformation. But their problems get multiplied with the passage of time. Many new questions come up in their mind demanding precise and immediate clarifications.

When Sri Aurobindo and the Mother were present in their

physical body, the sadhakas of those days used to put before them directly or in writing their individual questions and waited for specific replies. The Mother and Sri Aurobindo also, in their infinite Grace and Compassion, used to answer all those questions and the sadhakas concerned would be satisfied with these solutions and clarifications.

But now, when both of them have withdrawn from their physical body and many of the sadhakas have not yet been able to establish direct inner contact with the Master and the Mother, they wonder where to find the right solutions. Yet they vaguely feel that Sri Aurobindo and the Mother have already furnished relevant answers to all their possible problems and questions in their extensive writings on Yoga. But for many valid reasons many of these young sadhakas have neither the time nor the energy nor even the discriminating capacity to rummage through the voluminous writings of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo to find out the right and pertinent answer needed at that moment.

What these young sadhakas seek for in such situations of perplexity is a properly prepared handbook which would deal with all the essential facets of the Integral Yoga in a methodical way and present them in such a manner that they could be easily put into actual practice without much ambiguity.

So, some of the author's students old and new, in the age-group of twenty to forty years, requested him to consider their genuine need and prepare such a handbook in a single volume of moderate size.

Now, it is not only the student-sadhakas but some of the author's friends too who broached the same proposal to him now and then.

Then, there is a third category of people who come in the picture in this connection. These persons form the ever-growing fraternity of Sri Aurobindo' s and Mother's devotees scattered throughout the world. Many of them would not like to remain content with being mere religious devotees. They have an aspiration to become practising sadhakas of the Integral Yoga. But they too are confronted with the same set of problems: How to begin? Where to begin? And how to proceed on the right track with sure

steps in a sustained way?

After deep deliberation the author humbly decided to attempt the impossible. He prayed for the blessings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother in this rash venture of his and sought to encompass the entirety of their teachings on Yoga and Sadhana in the span of roughly three hundred and fifty pages.

The author can assure that all that is noted down in this book is authoritatively based on the writings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. The whole matter has been treated subjectwise and each chapter has been made self-contained without any necessary dependence on other chapters of the book. Thus, any sadhaka-reader facing any problem or question at any time during his life of sadhana may conveniently refer to the topic in question and receive the needed answer therein.

Now a few words as regards the style of composition of the book. The author has purposely refrained from writing this book purely from a detached impersonal point of view. He has at times sought to impart an intimate personal touch to his description and elaboration. And this is so because of the following reason.

In his own humble way the author has been a consistent wayfarer on the Path of the Integral Yoga for the last fifty-three years. And he believes with all his heart that most of the would-be readers of this book are also sadhakas of the same Path. This underlying common element and interest psychologically binds the author and his readers in a close relationship.

And this is especially so in the case of the young student-sadhakas referred to in the beginning of this explanation. Hence, the author, while making some specific remarks in course of his discussion, has often mentally placed himself in the company of these young sadhakas and made his observations in the 'First Person Plural Number', such as: "How is it that many of us who claim to be sadhakas of Sri Aurobindo's Path so easily lose our attitude of wakeful vigilance and fall prey to any and every invading temptation?" Readers are requested to excuse this sort of personal vein of writing.

Finally, the author hopes and even trusts that many sadhakas who are already relatively advanced on the path of Sadhana will

find many points in this humble composition worth pondering over.

The twenty-six chapters of this book are like twenty-six garlands offered with love and devotion at the Feet of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. All the flowers have been culled from the celestial gardens of the Master and the Mother: the author's modest role has been that of a conscientious weaver of the garlands only.

Sri Aurobindo Ashram

J. K M.

Pondicherry

24.04.02