The Lives of Sri Aurobindo

  

"Since his death in 1950, Sri Aurobindo Ghose has been known primarily as a yogi and a philosopher of spiritual evolution who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in peace and literature. But the years Aurobindo spent in yogic retirement were preceded by nearly four decades of rich public and intellectual work. Biographers usually focus solely on Aurobindo's life as a politician or sage, but he was also a scholar, a revolutionary, a poet, a philosopher, a social and cultural theorist, and the inspiration for an experiment in communal living."

Peter Heehs has presented Aurobindo's story, and the driving ideas behind his major works, with an academic neutrality that I appreciated. It reminded me at times of Ramachandra Guha's Gandhi biographies - the hint of the Gandhian in the author is unmistakeable, yet information is presented in a straightforward manner covering all parts of the subject's life without attempt to obscure or obfuscate for ideological conformity.

This is a fascinating, detailed account of a remarkable life that succeeds at presenting the thesis it starts off with, chiefly that Aurobindo went through various transformative phases in life where he played vastly different roles. This encompasses a thoroughly British upbringing in England complete with English carers, working tirelessly as a political revolutionary who believed in the need to take up arms to free India from British occupation, and spending the later half of his life in pursuit of elevating the very nature of his existence through yogic practices.

My grandparents could probably be described as believers who made regular trips from Gujarat to Pondicherry for many years of their life. Entire almirahs of their library were devoted to the storage of gigantic hardcovers authored by Sri Aurobindo or The Mother, or works analysing their writings. Belief and reverence in Sri Aurobindo and his mission have always been present at the periphery of life, whether that is through blessing packets in wallets or their portraits on the walls that still remain in my grandparents' home long after they do not. My primary aim in seeking out this book was to simply understand better that which captivated the devotion of my family. Just as tantalising was the curiosity underneath to discern the beliefs for merit, given how strongly my own have taken hold in the past decade or so.

Before I delve into my personal thoughts on the topic, an area of Aurobindo's life that I found admirable: he produced an unparalleled amount of literary output which few can claim to match. The merits of each of those might remain debatable, but that does not erase the fact that his writing spans thousands of pages on everything from plays, poetry, commentary on philosophy, revolutionary tactics, musings on India's freedom struggle, metaphysics, and academic interpretations of the Vedas, to his own attempts at transcending the mortal plane. There are probably just as many pages that were thrown in the bin or went missing, and ultimately remained unpublished.

Aurobindo was also amongst the first to proclaim nothing short of full independence from the British (preceding Gandhi's demands for purna swaraj which came much later) at a time when the dominant Moderates of Congress preferred to measure progress by each minor concession they gained after years of lobbying. At such a time, the idea of divorcing from the British empire completely was seen as heresy by many, nigh impossible by others. In this, Aurobindo's vision was truly ahead of its time.

Coming back to Aurobindo's spiritual odyssey, and mysticism in general, I have found it terribly difficult to take any of it seriously for the entirety of my thinking life. In this particular case, the biggest obstacles are the prerequisite beliefs: namely, that of the existence of a 'soul', and the existence of a Creator (a nameless consciousness that permeates every object in existence, if you prefer). If you do not believe in these, or are unable to even entertain the possibility of higher realities than ours, digesting Aurobindo's writings will prove difficult.

Frankly, a lot of it is abstruse, but the gist of the philosophy is that evolution is continuous, and we are not yet at the end. Just as life arose out of matter, and consciousness evolved in life, the next step is the evolution of our present consciousness into that of a higher kind, that will deliver humanity into a better world than the one we find ourselves in. It is not so much the promise of a utopia in the way that Heaven is, rather a belief in the potential of a blissful state of oneness with the Creator through yogic practices to the point that the question of a body on Earth becomes immaterial.

While this sounds like a reasonably harmless pursuit upon initial reading, the more you delve into the literature, the harder it gets to put stock into. There is talk of higher planes of consciousness, and how Aurobindo's yogic pursuits allow him to hone what appear to us mere mortals as supernatural talents (telepathy, visions of the past, present, and future, turning pain into a source of pleasure, even the ability to manipulate world events) but in reality are a result of progress on the path to elevating consciousness to a higher level (or more accurately, bringing the Overmind into the physical plane).

Aurobindo spent quite a few decades in pursuit of his theory which, among many other fantastical acts, allegedly granted him the ability to read and affect other people's thoughts, intervene in major world events (he claimed to have used his forces to aid the Allied cause in World War II), and miraculously cure disease without any need of medical intervention.

The only verifiable fact here is that Aurobindo passed away at 78 after a deteriorating spell of illness that likely led to kidney failure. What struck me was the certain belief amongst devotees right up to the end that he was capable of fighting off advanced disease through his yoga.

Needless to say, such ideas are quite dangerous in the Indian context. Without a doubt, the notion of pursuing physical and mental perfection to fortify one's sense of self is a noble one. But with this philosophy come a host of beliefs that would do more harm than good. India does not need more people believing that yogic pursuit is the sole key to physical ailment, when we are already losing people to tantric healers and quack Ayurveda vaidyas. India does not need even a hint of promise in supernatural abilities when so-called religious healers are attracting audiences in the thousands each day, promising a taste of just that. India does not need to indoctrinate yet another generation into viewing brahmacharya (celibacy) as a virtue, when millions have been repressed sexually and pushed into arranged marriages out of custom for centuries.

In Aurobindo's case as in Gandhi's, their mission also effectively sidelined their wives into submissive partners who were expected to assent to their husband's will without any say in it (Aurobindo spent most of his married life separated from his wife for one reason or another - financial troubles, safety concerns - much to her distress and disappointment).

In a country and a culture that has been mired in superstition for millenia, and remains beholden by babas and gurus to this day, it is no surprise that Aurobindo's ideas gained credibility and mass following. Ideas that would sound ludicrous to a rationalist, such as protracted spiritual practice and austerity leading to supernatural powers in individuals, are not just entertained but accepted as fact by a large section of the population. Aurobindo's theories on this subject are informed through his exhaustive study of Hindu scriptures while diverging from commonly held beliefs that such a path required one to give up all worldly connections and become an ascetic in the Himalayas. I imagine the familiarity certainly helped Hindus to accept what Aurobindo was saying more easily than others would have. It also helped that he had gained national notoriety and respect as a revolutionary before he embarked on spiritual pursuits.

The devotion of the people is ultimately unsurprising, after all Aurobindo presents an enticing vision of greater purpose and possibility for humankind in response to the gaping void left behind by the theory of evolution and its upending of centuries of religious dogma. Yet this is an unlikely vision for it has not produced any discernible results; in the years since, the Indian spiritual movement has waned. Not much else has changed. Wars are still being waged across the globe, children are still dying, and no amount of yoga or meditation seems likely to deliver us from the power hungry men who rule over the world. Perhaps in a world such as ours, it is not entirely unimaginable a response to withdraw inwards and chase deliverance within.