Blue 2005

evolutionary process which is being attempted here at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
Unlike the popular conception of an ashram, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram is not a
religious body or a monastery. It has nothing to do with religion or asceticism or
even spiritualism as it is commonly understood and practised elsewhere. This
Ashram can be defined more appropriately as a human laboratory where, through
a unique and unprecedented research work initiated by Sri Aurobindo and the
Mother, man is consciously attempting to transform himself into the next species
on the evolutionary ladder.
The process of self-purification which is followed at this Ashram is known as
the Integral Yoga, a system of self-discipline evolved by Sri Aurobindo and the
Mother. The principle of the Integral Yoga is a constant "self-surrender" to the
supreme creative and transformative force of the Divine, the force of the Supreme
Mother. As a result of this self-surrender the consciousness, power, delight of the
Divine shall descend in the human being, gradually perfecting his nature and
eventually transforming his mind, life and body.
The main process that goes on silently behind the appearance of all the outer
activities in the Ashram is this "self-surrender" to the force of the Supreme Mother.
The primary purpose of the various activities is not to satisfy any practical or
economic need but to provide a field for spiritual growth to the members of the
Ashram through such works. The actual nature of the work ceases to be important
when all the works are carried out in the spirit of self-giving, as an offering to the
Divine Mother. And it is this inner attitude rather than the outer accomplishment
which is the essence of all the works done in this Ashram.
Significantly in this Ashram the conception of work changes radically as it no
longer denotes just the vocation of a person in which he is engaged only for a
limited period of time. All he thinks, all he feels, all he does at every moment of his
life is to be offered to the Divine Mother for purification, for an integral transformation.
The aim of perfecting one's nature and finally transforming one's mind, life
and body is too formidable a task for any human capacity or endeavour. For, in the
Sri Aurobindo Ashram, perfection does not mean some superficial changes or a
refinement of nature attained through a rigorous self-discipline based on certain
moral, ethical or religious ideas. Not a pretension of perfection but a genuine
transmutation of the present base human nature into the higher principle of a
divine nature; a conversion, a transformation which is something permanent and
real, is the aim here.
This can be achieved only as a result of the direct working of the supreme
transformative force of the Divine Mother, which alone has the power to effect in
man this integral transformation. But this supreme Force will act directly only in
response to an aspiration for this ultimate perfection. A constant self-surrender to
this Force with an unwavering aspiration, therefore, is the key to this perfection,
this integral transformation.
Since its founding in 1926 the Sri Aurobindo Ashram has grown from an
informal grouping of two dozen inmates into a diversified spiritual community with
about 1400 members, both male and female. Ashramites live and work in more
than 400 buildings spread throughout the town of Pondicherry. The central focus
of the community is one group of houses including those in which Sri Aurobindo
and the Mother dwelt for most of their lives in Pondicherry. This interconnected
block of houses – called "the Ashram main building" or more commonly just "the
Ashram" – surrounds a tree-shaded courtyard, at the centre of which lies the
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