Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

01. The Object of Integral Yoga

Fragment ID: 843

But why should they [the yogis of the traditional paths] feel any pressure [of the descent of the supermind] when they are satisfied with the realisation they have? They live in the spiritual mind and the nature of the mind is to separate – here to separate some high aspect or state of the Divine and seek that to the exclusion of all else. All the spiritual philosophies and schools of yoga do that. If they go beyond, it is to the Absolute – and mind cannot conceive of the Absolute except as something inconceivable, neti neti. Moreover for getting samadhi they concentrate on one single idea and what they reach is that which is represented by that idea – the samadhi is in its nature an exclusive concentration on that. So why should it open them to anything else? There are only a few who are sufficiently plastic to escape from this self-limitation of the sadhana – what they experience is that there is no end to the realisation, when you get to one peak, you find another beyond it. In order to see more than this one has to get into conscious waking touch with the supramental or at least get a glimpse of it – and that means passing beyond spiritual mind.