Readings in Sri Aurobindo's The Synthesis of Yoga Volume 1

"The Synthesis of Yoga is probably the most extensive, comprehensive and innovative examination of Yoga in modern times, and by one of the greatest Yogis and seers of all time, Mahayogi Sri Aurobindo … Sri Aurobindo called his Yoga an "Integral Yoga." It was he who invented the term integral yoga and the idea of an integral approach to life, terms that now many people and yoga groups use for their own activities. Yet by integral Yoga, Aurobindo meant combining the three great Yogas of Karma Yoga or the Yoga of Action, Bhakti Yoga or the Yoga of Devotion, and Jnana Yoga and the Yoga of Knowledge leading to an all inclusive Yoga of Self-Perfection. That great original integral Yoga is what is explained in this yogic classic of the Synthesis of Yoga.

For Aurobindo, Yoga is not merely a particular discipline or philosophy, part of culture, science or religion as we know it. "All life is Yoga," as he boldly proclaims, meaning not just human life but the cosmic life. Yoga is the very inner spiraling movement of life towards the evolution of consciousness. This is not the outer life of the body but the inner life of the spirit, which can then take up the outer life of the body as part of a spiritual expression.

Santosh Krinsky has endeavored to make Sri Aurobindo's teachings relevant and readable to the very different audience today, without compromising the essence of his teaching. I do not think that any other writer in American has better represented Aurobindo's teacings today than Santosh. This is a difficult task to be sure but one that he has been able to do consistently and with depth of thought. The reader is guided through short episodes that can constitute a simple yet direct immersion into the heart of Aurobindo's teachings. Krinsky has approached The Synthesis of Yoga in four volumes of which this current book is the first and foundational for the rest. He clearly explains Aurobindo's vision of Yoga in the world today and the many-sided approach that is needed to make it work in our daily lives. This helps the reader understand the depths of Yoga and how it can be used to make fundamental changes in our being and character that are more important and enduring than mere outer changes in our body."

- From the Foreword by Dr. David Frawley, author of Yoga and Ayurveda