The Hidden Forces of Life

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

A retrospective review of the course of one's life is apt to reveal that most of the past events of one's life, including those which seemed to be the outcome of one's conscious choice, were unplanned and due to some unforeseen happenings or chance events such as meeting somebody, receiving a suggestion from somebody or somewhere, coming across a book, visiting a certain place etc.

A good deal of mystery and unpredictability also surrounds what happens to one's life internally from day to day or even from hour to hour -- the alternation of moods, the upsurges of impulses, the kindling of emotions, etc.

According to those who can see behind the external appearance of things, the key to such mystery behind the internal as well as external events and vicissitudes of our lives consists in the fact that all life is a play of hidden forces; we live and move in a world of forces of which we are almost totally unaware.

This book is a compilation from the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother on the hidden forces of life which act on us influencing our thoughts, feelings and actions and determining the course of events in life.

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.