Sri Aurobindo
Letters on Yoga
3. Religion, Morality, Idealism and Yoga
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I quite acknowledge the utility of a temporary state of Vairagya as an antidote to the too strong pull of the vital. But Vairagya always tends to a turning away from life and the
tamasic element in Vairagya – despair, depression, etc. – dilapidates
the fire
of the being and may lead
in some cases to falling between two stools so that one loses earth and misses heaven. I therefore prefer to replace Vairagya by a firm and quiet rejection of what has to be rejected – sex, vanity, ego-centrism, attachment, etc.
– but that does not include rejection of the activities and powers that can be made instruments of the sadhana and the divine work, such as art, music, poetry, etc., though these have to find a new spiritual or psychic base, a deeper inspiration,
a turn towards the Divine or things divine
. Yoga can be done without the rejection of life, without killing or impairing the life-joy or
the vital force.
Current publication:
Sri Aurobindo. Letters on Yoga // SABCL.- Volume 22. (≈ 28 vol. of CWSA).- Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1971.- 502 p.
Other publications:
[A letter: ] Sri Aurobindo. Sri Aurobindo to Dilip.- 1st ed.- In 4 Volumes.- Volume 4. 1938 – 1950 / edited by Shankar Bandopadhyay.- Pune: Heri Krishna Mandir Trust; Mysore: Mira Aditi, 2003.- 269 p.
Sri Aurobindo. Letters on Yoga. II // CWSA.- Volume 29. (≈ 22-24 vol. of SABCL).- Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 2013.- 522 p.