The Synthesis of Yoga
The Synthesis of Yoga is recognized as the principal work on yoga of the many writings of Sri Aurobindo; in it we find an examination of the traditional systems of yoga and, a most thorough explanation of his own Integral Yoga.This reading consists of Chapter 6 The Way of Devotion found in Part 3 The Yoga of Divine Love, on page 571.
How does the way of devotion enter into a synthetic and integral Yoga? All yoga is a turning of the human mind and soul towards that in which it finds its greater being. The intimate yoga of Bhakti, Love, consists of the desire of the soul as it turns towards God, the pain of love, the delight of love possessed and the play of that delight and, the eternal enjoyment of the divine Lover which is the heart of celestial bliss.
The bhakta, the lover-seeker of God, offers his life, all that he is and all that he has and all that he does to the Divine. The one thing essential is the intense devotion of one’s thoughts towards the object of adoration: God. As in other yogas one comes to see the Divine everywhere, in all, in everything. Therefore one pours out the realization of the Divine in all one’s inner activities and outward actions.