Before Gandhi, Aurobindo Ghose tested the British colony with his courageous writings on independence and his extraordinary energy. A series of mystical experiences, however, turned Ghose into Sri Aurobindo, India"s greatest modern writer on spiritualism. The Essential Aurobindo is a collection of this yogi"s most important writings. Raised with a British education from the age of 5 and schooled at Cambridge, Aurobindo was thoroughly versed in Western philosophy and strove to integrate the profound ideas of East and West. His "integral yoga" has been influential among writers like Ken Wilber in the American human-potential movement, in which the spiritual side of the human being is considered the most important element of cultivation. According to Aurobindo, after the origin of life from matter, and mind from life, there must be a further, conscious evolution to a spiritual plane. Included in The Essential Aurobindo are writings of the Mother, Aurobindo"s successor, who established an ongoing and influential collective based on the thoughts of Aurobindo. Culled from the nearly 30 volumes of Aurobindo"s lifetime work, the pieces in The Essential Aurobindo are truly essential to an understanding of this vital and unique thinker. --Brian Bruya