TH 191: Some Terms and Definitions; Sri Aurobindo’s Symbol

Video and audio recordings of a talk by Dr Alok Pandey at Van Niwas, Nainital in May 2018.
There are terminologies common to any path of yoga and there are also terminologies specific to each system of yoga. Sri Aurobindo’s use of these terms is unique in two ways. On the one hand he is a master linguist and on the other hand he is a master yogi who has tried every path, arrived at their peak realisations and then mover further towards the new and unique goal of the Supramental transformation. Besides he was fully acquainted with all the major ancient works on yoga and spirituality which he had read in the original. He saw how many of the terms in their modern usage have been either diminished in their scope or distorted by ill-informed authors who were more of pedagogues rather than yogis in the true sense of the word. Sri Aurobindo excelled in both and therefore it is only natural that he restored the words to their truer and deeper sense. Some of these terms have been discussed, not from a linguistic but from an experiential point of view. There is also a detailed description of the meaning of Sri Aurobindo’s symbol in response to a question.