MYSTIC FIRE: The Life of Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo was one of the most extraordinary figures to appear on the historical stage in the early twentieth century. He is remembered today primarily as a revolutionary and a yogi, but Aurobindo Ghose refused to be circumscribed by such boundaries. Aurobindo was taken at an early age to England. Completely cut off from all things Indian, he received the perfect English education at St. Pauls School and Cambridge University. Destined for a career in the Indian Civil Service, he cracked the entrance examination but declined to join. Returning home after a 14-year absence, while working for the Maharaja of Baroda, Aurobindo embarked on a covert parallel career-- organizing revolutionary groups and writing anti-British propaganda. At the same time, he delved deep into Indias past and scriptures, and became a poet, dramatist, philosopher and Sanskritist. Later, he became one of Indias foremost social, political and cultural theorists. After a whirlwind political career of three years in Bengal-- one of them as a guest of the Raj-- Aurobindo stunned everyone, when, at the height of his political eminence, he withdrew to Pondicherry. Here, as Sri Aurobindo, he crafted Integral Yoga and