Be in the Divine Presence: From the Letters of Sri Aurobindo, Part 1 of 2

Today, it is an honor to share selected writings by the Venerated Sri Aurobindo from His book, “Letters of Sri Aurobindo” which explains why we should love, surrender and be one with the Divine.

The Object of Integral Yoga

“The object of the Yoga is to enter into and be possessed by the Divine Presence and Consciousness, to love the Divine for the Divine’s sake alone, to be tuned in our nature into the nature of the Divine, and in our will and works and life to be the instrument of the Divine. Its object is not to be a great Yogi or a Superman (although that may come) or to grab at the Divine for the sake of the ego’s power, pride or pleasure. It is not for Moksha, though liberation comes by it and all else may come, but these must not be our objects. The Divine alone is our object.

Inclusive Method of Integral Yoga

[…] Surrender is the main power of the Yoga, but the surrender is bound to be progressive; a complete surrender is not possible in the beginning, but only a will in the being for that completeness. In fact it takes time; yet it is only when the surrender is complete that the full flood of the sadhana is possible. Till then there must be the personal effort with an increasing reality of surrender. One calls in the power of the Divine Shakti and once that begins to come into the being, it at first supports the personal endeavor, then progressively takes up the whole action, although the consent of the sadhak continues to be always necessary. As the Force works, it brings in the different processes that are necessary for the sadhak, processes of knowledge, of Bhakti, of spiritualized action, of transformation of the nature. The idea that they cannot be combined is an error.” 30 August 1937

Necessity of Yoga in Action

“The object of the sadhana is opening of the consciousness to the Divine and the change of the nature. Meditation or contemplation is one means to this but only one means; bhakti is another, work another. Chitta-shuddhi was preached by the Yogins as a first means towards realization. They got by it the saintliness of the saint and the quietude of the sage but the transformation of the nature of which we speak is something more than that, and thus transformation does not come by contemplation alone; works are necessary, Yoga in action is indispensable.” […]