Editing Sri Aurobindo (section)

=== Introduction ===
Sri Aurobindo's concept of the Integral Yoga system is described in his books, ''The Synthesis of Yoga'' and ''The Life Divine''.{{Sfnp|McDermott|1994|p=281|ps=}} ''The Life Divine'' is a compilation of essays published serially in ''Arya.''

Sri Aurobindo argues that divine ''[[Brahman]]'' manifests as empirical reality through ''[[līlā]],'' or divine play. Instead of positing that the world we experience is an illusion (''[[Maya (illusion)|māyā]]'')'','' Aurobindo argues that the world can evolve and become a new world with new species, far above the human species just as human species have evolved after the animal species. As such, he argued that the end goal of spiritual practice could not merely be a liberation from the world into Samadhi but would also be that of descent of the Divine into the world in order to transform it into a Divine existence. Thus, this constituted the purpose of Integral Yoga.<ref>Aurobindo, Sri. ''The Synthesis of Yoga.'' Lotus Press, 1996. P. 7-8</ref> Regarding the involution of consciousness in matter, he wrote that: "This descent, this sacrifice of the Purusha, the Divine Soul submitting itself to Force and Matter so that it may inform and illuminate them is the seed of redemption of this world of Inconscience and Ignorance."<ref>Aurobindo, Sri. ''The Synthesis of Yoga.'' Lotus Press, 1996. p. 106.</ref>

Sri Aurobindo believed that evolutionary theories merely describe the phenomenon of the emergence of life from matter but do not explain the reason behind it.<ref>Sri Aurobindo, ''The Life Divine'', p. 5.</ref> He asserts that life is already involved in matter, as all existence is a manifestation of Brahman.<ref>Sri Aurobindo, ''The Life Divine'', pp. 5, 8, 338–339.</ref> He argues that Nature has evolved life out of matter and mind out of life, and that this evolution has a purpose: to manifest the Supermind.<ref>Sri Aurobindo, ''The Life Divine'', pp. 5, 273, 690, 791.</ref> He noted that this evolutionary labour, a 'cosmic necessity', is arduous and often 'difficult to justify by immediate tangible results', leading some to seek an escape from it rather than fulfilling its aim.<ref>Sri Aurobindo, ''The Life Divine'', p. 7.</ref>