Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra
[While Sri Aurobindo was familiar with the Bible and Western philosophy, his own spiritual path and philosophical foundation were not inspired by Christian scripture. In fact, his spiritual seeking was prompted by a rejection of the Christianity he was exposed to in England, which he found dogmatic and unappealing. His core philosophical vision and spiritual experiences were founded on the ancient scriptures of India, particularly the Upanishads and the Gita.
Rejection of Christian dogma
During his education in England, Aurobindo was exposed to Christianity, but it largely repelled him. He found its focus on suffering and a narrow sense of sin to be problematic and overly emotional.
The spiritual turn: His true spiritual journey began only after his return to India, when he discovered Indian philosophical texts like the Upanishads.
Criticism of Christian theology: Aurobindo criticized what he saw as a flaw in Christian theology—the lack of spiritual philosophy and reliance on dogma. He believed this led many to be content with lower, veiled glimpses of the Divine rather than the integral realization he pursued.
Use of biblical imagery as symbolism
Despite his rejection of Christianity as a religious path, Aurobindo was deeply versed in English literature and frequently referred to the Bible and Christian concepts in his writings. However, he reinterpreted these ideas metaphorically to align with his own philosophical system of Integral Yoga.
The Kingdom of God: He used the Christian idea of the "Kingdom of God" as a symbol for the Divine Life on Earth, which was a key aspect of his philosophy. Unlike the traditional Christian view of a heavenly kingdom, Aurobindo saw this as a tangible, collective spiritual transformation of humanity and the material world.
The Fall of Man: He offered a reinterpretation of the Garden of Eden story. For Aurobindo, the expulsion from Eden was a symbolic representation of humanity being driven out of an animal innocence to begin its necessary, though painful, journey of evolution toward a higher, divine consciousness.
Jesus as an avatar: While dismissing the sectarian idea that Christ was the only incarnation of God, Aurobindo and his collaborator, The Mother, acknowledged Jesus as a powerful avatar, or divine descent. They viewed his life and crucifixion as a symbolic, historical turning point that infused the world with a spiritual force.
The foundation of Sri Aurobindo's philosophy
The true and primary inspiration for Sri Aurobindo's philosophy is found in the Vedantic and yogic traditions of India, particularly his own spiritual experiences.
Primary influences: He stated that his philosophy was formed first by the Upanishads and the Gita, and later deepened by the Vedas. His spiritual experience confirmed and formed the basis for his philosophical ideas.
Integral approach: His Integral Yoga sought to synthesize the paths of knowledge (jnana), devotion (bhakti), and action (karma) to achieve a total transformation of the human being, from the physical to the spiritual. This contrasted with many Christian teachings that tended to emphasize withdrawal from the world or a focus on suffering rather than total transformation.] - GoogleAI
[what Nature herself attends from us is that the whole of what we are should rise into the spiritual consciousness and become a manifest and manifold power of the spirit. An integral transformation is the integral aim of the Being in Nature; this is the inherent sense of her universal urge of self-transcendence. It is for this reason that the process of Nature is not confined to a heightening of herself into a new principle; the new height is not a narrow intense pinnacle, it brings with it a widening and establishes a larger field of life in which the power of the new principle may have sufficient play and room for its emergence.] - The Life Divine by Sri Aurobindo
https://incarnateword.in/cwsa/22/out-of-the-sevenfold-ignorance-towards-the-sevenfold-knowledge
[In biology, researchers have observed ripples of vibration moving across a fertilized starfish egg, driven by activated proteins, which are crucial signals for cell division and the beginning of life.] - GoogleAI
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