Page 193 - Hinduism

XI.5 Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo Ghosh, one of the latest exponents and interpreters of Hinduism, has described ancient Indian philosophy as follows: "an ingrained and dominant spirituality, an inexhaustible vital creativeness and gusto of life, and, mediating between them, a powerful, penetrating and scrupulous intelligence, combined with the rational ethical and aesthetic mind at a high intensity of action, created the harmony of the ancient Indian culture." Sri Aurobindo gave new interpretations of the Vedas and the Vedanta, and in his Essay on the Gita he expounded what he called “the integral view of life". His great work, The Life Divine, is a summing up of his philosophy of “the Descent of the Divine into Matter". The importance of Sri Aurobindo's work lies not only in his restatements of old ideals but also in his attempt to explain the true methods of Yoga as apart from mere asceticism and illusionism.
XI.6 Sri Ramana Maharshi
A recent example of transcendental spiritual experience manifested in life is Sri Ramana Maharshi, who passed away in 1950. A man of powerful personality, he taught as much by his silence as by his sermons. He had a directness of approach and a universality of outlook, which were products of true enlightenment.
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