Vol 3 comprises letters written by Sri Aurobindo on the experiences and realisations that may occur in the practice of the Integral Yoga.
Integral Yoga
Vol 3 comprises letters written by Sri Aurobindo on the experiences and realisations that may occur in the practice of the Integral Yoga. Four volumes of letters on the integral yoga, other spiritual paths, the problems of spiritual life, and related subjects. In these letters, Sri Aurobindo explains the foundations of his integral yoga, its fundamentals, its characteristic experiences and realisations, and its method of practice. He also discusses other spiritual paths and the difficulties of spiritual life. Related subjects include the place of human relationships in yoga; sadhana through meditation, work and devotion; reason, science, religion, morality, idealism and yoga; spiritual and occult knowledge; occult forces, beings and powers; destiny, karma, rebirth and survival. Sri Aurobindo wrote most of these letters in the 1930s to disciples living in his ashram. A considerable number of them are being published for the first time.
THEME/S
The sky usually symbolises a plane of consciousness mental or higher than the ordinary mental—stars are formations of light on that plane.
The sky is a symbol of the mental consciousness (or the psychic) or other consciousnesses above the mind—e.g. the higher mind, intuition, overmind etc. Akasha as the ether indicates also the infinite.
The sky in the heart is the chidakash. It is seen usually above the head, but when it is seen in the heart, that means the opening of the heart to the higher consciousness.
The blue sky is that of the Higher Mind—the nearest of the planes between human mentality and the Supermind. The moon here [in a vision] is the symbol of spirituality in the mental planes. The world of the Higher Mind is above those directly connected with the body consciousness.
The higher consciousness on any of its levels is seen usually as a sky or ether, but when felt through the vital it is often perceived as a sea.
Sat, Chit, Ananda, Supermind, Mind, Life, Matter are the seven [seas of consciousness mentioned in the Veda]. But in this Yoga
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one sees many levels of consciousness which appear as skies or else as seas.
The rain is the symbol of the descent of Grace or of the higher consciousness which is the cause of the riches—the spiritual plenty.
The vision you saw of the snow is probably a symbol of the consciousness in a condition of purity, silence and peace like a snowy ground; in that a new life (psychic, spiritual as indicated by the flowers) appears in place of the old mental and vital life which has been covered by that mantle of snowy whiteness.
Clouds are a symbol of obscurity.
The lightning is a symbol of the dynamic force of the higher consciousness acting at intervals to enlighten the rest of the being.
The rainbow is the sign of peace and deliverance.
The Night is the symbol of the Ignorance or Avidya in which men live just as Light is the symbol of Truth and Knowledge.
Dawn always means an opening of some kind—the coming of something that is not yet fully there.
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