Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950) was one of the great twentieth-century figures of India. Over the course of his lifetime, he helped India's struggle for freedom and became a leading yogi, philosopher, and poet of his time and culture. In his teaching, Sri Aurobindo went well beyond Eastern philosophy and religion, synthesizing it with Western traditions, even spending two years at Loreto convent in England in the late 1800s. By 1910, his focus was directed entirely toward spirituality, and he settled in Pondicherry, India, where he taught, wrote, and published his greatest works.For everyone interested in the philosophical and spiritual vision of this great Indian thinker, a revolutionary turned yogi, this outstanding collection of introductory essays, first published in 1974, offers original reflections and interpretations of Sri Aurobindo's six major works, all written by distinguished scholars of religion and philosophy rather than devotees. Includes a new introduction by Robert McDermott.