January 17, 2006

The greatest achievement of Mankind

Life Divine by Aurobindo Amazon.com Home
September 25, 2005 Reviewer: N.H. (CYPRUS) - See all my reviews
This book is the greatest achievement of Mankind! It is the greatest philosophical book ever written and in the best English Language ever written too. It is the Ultimate culmination of a 3,000 year Indian Philosophic Thought. Aurobindo examines deeper than anybody ever did the Human Condition and treats with the utmost profundity, clarity, linguistic beauty, logical acuity, originality and imagination all the major questions of Life:
  • Why is there something rather than nothing,
  • what is the meaning of life,
  • why are we here,
  • where did we come from,
  • what is our relationship to the ultimate ground of Being,
  • what is the function of ignorance, suffering, pain,
  • what is the Nature of the Ultimate Being.

He surpasses Shankara, incorporating in his philosophy the Tantric idea of the meaningfulness and purposefulness of the Becoming, as well as all central elements of Buddhist Philosophy. In relating all these to modern man (Western and Eastern) and connecting everything together through the most plastic, expressive, exquisite language ever written, he achieves the Ultimate Synthesis of all philosophical and spiritual thought of Mankind.

Although one needs to become accustomed to his unique language and expression, as well as to spend initially some time in understanding the way he uses certain terms (some of his own creation, so that the Unexpressible could at least be hinted at), this initial investment of time will more than reward the serious reader in the end. Some, with whom I agree, suggest that one start reading the book from the chapter "The evolution of the spiritual man" (Book 2, chapter 24) and, after moving on to read the next two chapters too, to go back and start reading it from the beginning. These last chapters give an overview of his philosophy and are written in more easy language. "THE LIFE DIVINE" is itself one of the most pure EMBODIMENTS of the DIVINE.

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