Editor: Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) wrote a series of articles on The Synthesis of Yoga in the journal Arya from 1914 to 1921, published from Pondicherry. Several years later, when it was decided to publish the articles as a book, he revised parts of the work lightly and a good deal of it thoroughly. This revised work was published in 1955 by the Sri Aurobindo International University Centre.

Hatha yoga and raja yoga apart, Sri Aurobindo gives a very detailed treatment of jnana, karma and bhakti yoga in his book. While each pathway can be taken to achieve realisation when pursued with single-minded sincerity, Sri Aurobindo wonders whether these yoga can be integrated for the benefit of aspirant humanity. Of course they cannot be combined like a building-block toy. An individual might pursue them one after another but one may not have the swiftness to go to the centre of the yoga and gain all its fruits so that one could turn to the next. Not that it is impossible, says Sri Aurobindo:”

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Author is a literary critic, translator, author, and researcher from Srirangam, Tamil Nadu.

This article was first published in the Prabuddha Bharata, monthly journal of The Ramakrishna Order started by Swami Vivekananda in 1896. This article is courtesy and copyright Prabuddha Bharata (www.advaitaashrama.org). I have been reading the Prabuddha Bharata for years and found it enlightening. You can subscribe online at www.advaitaashrama.org. Cost is Rs 100/ for one year, Rs 280/ for three years, Rs 1,200/ for twenty years and Rs 2,000 for twenty five years.