All life is Yoga is for all

In chapter seven of Heraclitus, Sri Aurobindo writes on the role of philosophy. He praises critical reason for helping to arrive at the truth but calls a halt to it at that point. Thereafter, the dynamics of living the truth should be the guiding force and not philosophy.

The same can be said about the Yoga techniques too. They may help to a point but later prove to be a barrier. So, the formula - All life is Yoga - offered by Sri Aurobindo assumes significance. Not only it takes into account individual difference and destiny but also contains allowances as regards evolutionary possibilities. Unhinged from past formulations and dogma, it also ensures universality as well as integrality.

With such theoretical astuteness, one would imagine a course of spiritual practice that is smooth sailing and assured. But the truth is that for want of any standardization it escapes evaluation and emulation. This, however, must not be looked upon as a drawback but appreciated for its huge advantage. The open ended nature of human aspiration and imagination running in consonance with the Divine perfection is surely an empowering phenomenon.

Apart from the cultural prejudices and geographical bottlenecks, a major factor that restricts this knowledge system from reaching a wide spectrum of world population is the Ashram-centric approach. Monopoly over production of books is erroneously construed as the existence of some sort of supervisory authority or a rating system for granting hierarchy slots. The idea of being forced into membership of an alien community, too, is instantly repulsive for most. [TNM55]