The Record of Yoga matters less in the overall examination of Sri Aurobindo's public legacy primarily because it is a private, technical diary of his personal spiritual experiments, rather than a systematic, public exposition of his philosophy and teachings meant for a general audience.
Here are the key reasons why his major published works like The Life Divine, The Synthesis of Yoga, and Savitri take precedence in his legacy:
- Intended Audience: Major works were written for the public, primarily serialized in the philosophical review Arya, to articulate his comprehensive worldview and the principles of Integral Yoga to the world. The Record of Yoga was his private diary ("record of sadhana") and uses highly personal, abbreviated, and Sanskrit-hybridized terminology that is difficult for a general reader to understand without extensive editorial guidance.
- Philosophical Scope: Works like The Life Divine provide a vast, integrated philosophical framework for conscious evolution and the "divine life on earth," addressing universal human concerns and integrating Eastern and Western thought. The Record, while providing a unique insight into the experiential foundations of his philosophy, is a day-to-day log focused on the minutiae of his personal struggles and progress in the yoga, making it more of a supplementary text for serious scholars and advanced practitioners.
- Accessibility and Cohesion: Published works are carefully structured and present a coherent, polished intellectual legacy that influenced fields from psychology to political theory. The Record, being a diary, is unstructured and was not published in book form until 2001, long after his other works had established his global reputation and intellectual contribution.
- Focus on the Goal vs. the Process: Sri Aurobindo's legacy is defined by his ultimate vision of the supramental transformation of earthly life. His major works detail this ultimate aim and the method for achieving it. The Record, in contrast, details the difficult, day-to-day struggles and processes, including encounters with "hostile and anti-divine experiences," which, while valuable for understanding the difficulty of the path, are less central to the message and goal of his work.
- The Mother's Role: After 1926, the Mother took over the guidance of disciples, and Sri Aurobindo went into seclusion to focus on the subtler, inner work, which he continued to document in the Record. His extensive correspondence with disciples during this later period, collected in works like Letters on Yoga, provides the practical, accessible guidance that forms a larger part of his active teaching legacy than the private diary.
In essence, while the Record of Yoga offers a unique, intimate look into the "laboratory" of his spiritual experimentation, his major philosophical and literary works are the carefully crafted vehicles through which he transmitted his vision to humanity. - GoogleAI
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Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra
