Autobiographical Notes and Other Writings of Historical Interest

by Sri Aurobindo

This book consists of notes, letters, telegrams, and public statements written by Sri Aurobindo at various times.

It includes approximately three hundred pages of material not included in the SABCL edition: well over a hundred pages are published here for the first time and the rest were previously published only in journals or as parts of different books.

Of the material already published in the SABCL edition and included in this new book, half is from the now-discontinued volume Sri Aurobindo On Himself and the other half from Letters on Yoga and the Supplement volume, which was never brought out as an independent book.

Most of the rest of the letters from On Himself, written by Sri Aurobindo after 1927 and touching on the subject of himself and his sadhana, will be included in a new volume entitled Letters on Himself and the Ashram.

This documentary volume is divided into four parts:

• autobiographical notes, which consist primarily of things he wrote to correct statements made by others about him
• letters of historical interest, mostly written before 1927 to family members, political and professional associates, people interested in his yogic practice, and public figures
• public statements on Indian and world events
• public notices concerning his ashram and yoga.

It contains a detailed table of contents and nearly sixty pages of editorial notes, containing information on the people and historical events referred to in the texts.

 About the Author:

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.