Growing Within

by Sri Aurobindo and The Mother and A. S. Dalal (Comp.)

The selections in this compilation provide an overview of the meaning, nature, and processes of inner development. These include:

• The first awakening of consciousness
• The basic requisites and initial stages of inner growth
• The individual means and methods to grow in consciousness
• Some of the difficulties and pitfalls along the way
• The eventual new birth into a spiritual life that comes from a reversal of consciousness.

The focus of the book is inner growth as an experiential process based on certain universal psychological elements and principles, and its purpose is to help seekers understand and recognise the processes and experiences of inner development and foster its growth in their lives.

About the Authors:

The Mother:

Born in Paris in 1878, the Mother studied painting at an art studio and became an accomplished artist. Primarily interested in inner development, she was associated with several groups of spiritual seekers in France.

In 1914 she journeyed to India to meet the Indian mystic Sri Aurobindo in Puducherry and settled there permanently in 1920. For nearly fifty years, she was the head of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, from its founding in 1926 until her passing in 1973. She also established a school, the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, in 1952, and an international township, Auroville, in 1968.

Sri Aurobindo:

Sri Aurobindo was an Indian/Hindu nationalist, scholar, poet, mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru. After a short political career in which he became one of leaders of the early movement for the freedom of India from British rule, Sri Aurobindo turned to the development and practice of a new spiritual path which he called the "integral yoga," the aim of which was to further the evolution of life on earth by establishing a high level of spiritual consciousness which he called the Supermind that would represent a divine life.

Sri Aurobindo wrote prolifically in English on his spiritual philosophy and practice, on social and political development, on Indian culture including extensive commentaries and translations of ancient Indian scriptures, on literature and poetry including the writing of much spiritual poetry.