Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s9.t9.16

v1.c7.s9.t9.16

To realise the spiritual evolution of man, Aurobindo also proposed “Integral Yoga” theory. He believed that although there were many kinds of Indian traditional yoga, none of them were perfect, as they all emphasised the aspect of improving the body, while ignored the other aspects. For example, Hathayoga focused only on the physical practice, Raja Yoga focused on inhibition of man’s psychological activity, Jnana Yoga emphasised the importance of increasing knowledge, Karma Yoga emphasised the importance of selfless acts while Bhakti Yoga emphasised the importance of the devotional attitudes and feelings toward God. Though the wide variety of yoga focused on the different aspects, they pursued the same targets and results, that is, to combine the internal human spirit with Bráhman to realise spiritual liberation. Therefore, Aurobindo argued that the various yoga should be integrated, absorbed the essence of every kind of yoga and created a new yoga, which is “Integral Yoga.” His integral yoga is, based on the principle of realising man’s spiritual evolution, specifically, through a variety of yoga practice, to wake up the internal soul or spiritual nature of man, give full play of the role of spiritual nature to realise the progressively spiritual evolution of man’s body, life and mind, and ultimately realise the man’s overall transformation, and become a man with “super-mind consciousness”. When everyone has a “super-mind consciousness”,