The Synthesis of Yoga

Publisher’s Note
The Synthesis of Yoga first appeared serially in the monthly
review Arya between August 1914 and January 1921. Each
instalment was written immediately before its publication. The
work was left incomplete when the Arya was discontinued. Sri
Aurobindo never attempted to complete the Synthesis; hedid,
however, lightly revise the Introduction, thoroughly revise all
of Part I, “The Yoga of Divine Works”, and significantly revise
several chapters of Part II, “The Yoga of Integral Knowledge”.
More than thirty years elapsed between the first appearance of
the Synthesis in the Arya and the final stages of its incomplete
revision. As a result, there are some differences of terminology
between the revised and unrevised portions of the book.
In 1948 the chapters making up “The Yoga of Divine
Works” were published as a book by the Sri Aurobindo Library,
Madras. No other part of The Synthesis of Yoga appeared in
book-form during Sri Aurobindo’s lifetime. In 1955 an edition
comprising the Introduction and four Parts was brought out by
the Sri Aurobindo International University Centre. The present
edition, which has been checked against all manuscripts and
printed texts, includes for the first time the author’s revisions
to the Introduction and Chapters XV – XVII of Part II, and an
incomplete continuation of Part IV entitled “The Supramental
Time Consciousness”.