Synthesis of Yoga
The Synthesis of Yoga is Sri Aurobindo‘s thorough explanation of his method of Integral Yoga, as well as an examination of the traditional systems of yoga.
This reading is of the second half of Chapter 4, The Perfection of the Mental Being, found in Part 4 The Yoga of Self -Perfection, continuing mid-page, page 637, to its completion.
“The difficulty of the ascent is due to a natural ignorance … the Purusha … is not a complete knower of self and Nature … but no perfection can be attained without a very radical dealing with the present nature … of much that seems to be the fixed law of its complex mental, vital and physical being. … This is the first difficulty the Purusha has to deal with, a mixed and confused action of Nature … Thus purification, liberation, perfection, delight of being are four constituent elements of the Yoga. … Universe seems to be always trying to swallow up man … but the universal being … is working out its purpose in man … as he develops the element of sympathy born of the secret oneness … ”