Abundant love for humanity and its future

Among the present-day Indian thinkers, Sri Aurobindo Ghose is perhaps the most accomplished. His firm grasp of the fundamentals of true philosophy, his earnest attempt at the cultivation of inner life and his abundant love for humanity and its future, give to his writing a depth and comprehensiveness which are rarely met with. -- Dr Radhakrishnan [From Foreword to Sri Aurobindo and the Future of Mankind by A.C. Das]

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Sri Aurobindo’s own writings constitute a priceless heritage of humanity in the world of the mind and the spirit. The profundity of a Seer, embalmed in an expression of unique lucidity, fluency and intellectual authority, that characterize the writings, have inspired and will continue to inspire scholar and devotee alike from all over the world…Writings by and about The Mother provide a unique illumination in the light of which the teachings and thought of Sri Aurobindo gleam like a perfectly cut diamond. -- C.D. Deshmukh [From Foreword to Sri Aurobindo: A Descriptive Bibliography, 1972 by H.K. Kaul]

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Maharishi Aravinda Ghosh, popularly known as Sri Aurobindo, was a revolutionary, a philosopher, a yogi and a poet. Besides his own marvelous writings, much has been written about him (and much more will be written.)…

He was one of the leaders of the Extremist Party in Bengal from 1905 to 1910, and many references… illustrate his stature as a revolutionary. Although he advocated ‘Doctrine of Passive Resistance’ in 1907, his revolutionary reputation was also stamped upon him by the Bengali vernacular press in 1909, which condemned him for taking up an unworthy cause.

Even Annie Besant, in the same year, described him as dangerous, and made it clear that Sri Aurobindo would use any methods to upset British Rule. But even then, many others prophecied his greatness in other spheres, for he was not only a revolutionary patriot, but a humanist too. H.K. Kaul [From Preface to Sri Aurobindo: A Descriptive Bibliography, 1972]

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While Indian philosophers like Radhakrishnan, Bhattacharya and Dutta have put forward comprehensive systems of Indian philosophy, they pale in comparison to Aurobindo’s richness in detail and range of topics, as evident in his vast array of writings. Moreover, Aurobindo’s system of philosophy is autobiographical, an account of his personal experience and experiment. As he became more and more knowledgeable during his personal journey of his spiritual quest, he did not hesitate to continually revise his earlier writings and teachings...

Unlike Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi, Sivananda and J. Krishnamurti, who also expressed their experiences in philosophical terms, Sri Aurobindo was successful in developing an original critical and practical philosophical system, including theories of knowledge, existence, the self, natural order and the aim of life. Neria Harish Hebbar, MD May 1, 2005 Boloji.com