Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950)

Born on 15 August 1872, Sri Aurobindo was sent at the age of seven to England to receive western education. At the age of 21 he returned to India and spent 13 years in the administration of the State of Baroda. In 1906, he went to Calcutta as the Principal of the Bengal National College and openly joined the movement for the liberation of India, of which he became one of the leading fighters. His demand was for total Swaraj.

In 1908, he was accused of sedition and conspiracy and put in prison for one year. He had a number of spiritual experiences in the prison, which proved to be a turning point. When he left prison, he continued with his political and journalistic activities, but very soon he took to meditation and withdrew from political life.

He arrived in Pondicherry on 04 April 1910. After four years of silent yoga, he started in 1914 a philosophical monthly magazine called Arya in which most of his major works were published: The Life Divine, The Synthesis of Yoga, Essays on the Gita, On the Veda, The Human Cycle, The Ideal of Human Unity and The Foundations of Indian Culture. The same year Aurobindo met the Mother, his spiritual collaborator.

Born in Paris on 21 February 1878, Mother, who was called Mirra as a child was spiritually conscious from her early childhood and followed an inner discipline, which was accompanied by numerous psychic and spiritual experiences. She remained in Pondicherry for eleven months helping Sri Aurobindo in the publication of the Arya. Because of the war, she had to return to France. On 24 April 1920 she returned to Pondicherry to resume her collaboration in spiritual work and never left India. With the arrival of the Mother the number of disciples and followers around Sri Aurobindo gradually increased. This informal grouping eventually took shape in the form of Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

In 1926, Sri Aurobindo withdrew from outer contacts, though he kept correspondence with his disciples. He resumed the writing of his major literary creation, the epic poem, Savitri - A Legend and a Symbol.

During this period, he gave priority to the work of recognising a new force, consciousness and light, which he called the Supramental. This lasted until his passing away in 1950.