Who are we? Why are we alive? What are we here to do? What is the meaning and significance of our lives? These questions nag at us at times in our everyday lives until finally we take them up and try to unravel the mystery of our existence and the existence of the universal creation. Sri Aurobindo and the Mother have taken up these questions and provided a way of understanding and a method for progress in finding and applying the solutions we find. They do so by showing us the complex and multiple different ‘selves’ that make up what we believe to be a unified external personality. In fact, we are not so simple, and not so unified in our being. There are conflicting drives and forces at work which create internal conflict and, in many cases, defeat us in the achievement of our highest goals and aspirations. By understanding this complex makeup of our being, we are able to find a path to liberation from this bondage without at the same time, having to totally abandon all action in the world. Our Many Selves: Practical Yogic Psychology, compiled by Dr. A.S. Dalal from the writings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, is an extremely useful text to aid us in the process of self-discovery and self-actualization. It is a benefit to spiritual seekers regardless of the specific path followed, as it is not based on any particular religious or philosophical dogma. At the same time, the deeper understanding provided by this text can aid even those who are not actively and consciously practicing yoga for the sake of self-knowledge or self-realization, as it will help each individual work through the pressures, the internal debates, and inner conflicts that frequently impact the individual's ability to act and succeed in their intended goals, even when they are purely based on fulfilling the external personality. If we can understand the forces that bring us to feeding addictions, procrastinating, living an unhealthy and imbalanced lifestyle, sabotaging our relations with others, then we can begin to achieve a more harmonious and successful life however we choose to define success. Dr. Dala states: “This book is meant to bear out Sri Aurobindo’s oft-quoted statement, ‘Yoga is nothing but practical psychology.’ Generally, yoga is viewed as made up of certain set practices and certain rules and norms pertaining to one’s outer life. In contrast to this view Our Many Selves… present Yoga as consisting essentially in inner psychological work aimed at the transformation of consciousness.”

Many of us face the difficulty of trying to change something in our nature, only to find that it is either difficult or virtually impossible. The key to solving this problem actually lies in a deeper understanding of the true nature of our psychological being. We are actually composed of various different "parts" or "planes" of action that combine together, interact with one another and impinge upon one another. This understanding allows us to differentiate between a mental idea, a force of will, an emotional movement, a vital energy, or a physical structure, and thereby more clearly understand the results of our psychological efforts and growth activities.

Many of us face the difficulty of trying to change something in our nature, only to find that it is either difficult or virtually impossible. The key to solving this problem actually lies in a deeper understanding of the true nature of our psychological being. We are actually composed of various different "parts" or "planes" of action that combine together, interact with one another and impinge upon one another. This understanding allows us to differentiate between a mental idea, a force of will, an emotional movement, a vital energy, or a physical structure, and thereby more clearly understand the results of our psychological efforts and growth activities.

What is psychological health and growth? Western psychology tends to define psychological health as the absence of various forms of extreme disturbance or disruption. "Normal" levels of dissatisfaction, upset-ness, are considered to be both acceptable and part of everyday life. It is only when someone experiences a psychological state that drifts into total disorientation, violence, suicidal thoughts, or disassociation from the expectations of society that psychology labels the behavior as unhealthy or harmful. There is, however, another way to look at the issue of psychological health and growth, and that is to affirm the development of positive attributes as representing health. Thus, the individual can find and implement measures to create forward looking and positive directions in his life, and contextualize the obstacles or issues that arise as challenges to be met and overcome along the way. Western psychology has a very rudimentary view of human psychology, perhaps due to the fact that as a science it has been around for a very short period of time and has not yet had the opportunity to look into the vast ranges of human psychology and the complexity of the various aspects of our being and their interaction with one another. Nowadays, as Western psychology has developed, more emphasis is being placed on the wider field of human growth and empowerment, and thus, Western psychology is entering a field long known to the yogic practitioners of India who long ago codified the actions of mind, life and body and found ways to enhance the developmental powers of existence. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras set forth a systematic approach to psychological development, for instance. Many yogic practices are based in a deep understanding of human psychology. In the present volume, Dr. A.S. Dalal bridges the gap between Western psychology and Eastern spirituality as he explores the detailed inner workings of human life and provides at the same time a way of understanding, based on the ground-breaking work of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, which puts the human potential for self-exceeding front and center. Dr. Dalal has compiled this book from the writings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother after first providing a detailed introduction and outline of their approach to facing issues, overcoming disturbances and enhancing peace, creativity, growth and satisfaction in life. He calls upon the principles of yogic psychology to show us the way beyond reactions of anger, fear, anxiety and depression, as well as how to achieve positive mental health and psychological growth. (from the Introduction)

Sri Aurobindo calls us to what he terms an “adventure of consciousness”. Integral yoga was not intended to set forth a specific and rigid set of practices for everyone to follow; rather, it was developed to understand the specific needs of each individual at each stage of development and to employ those methods and practices that would best aid in the further progress for the individual seeker. It also was not targeted at abandoning life. The integral yoga first focuses on achieving the necessary liberation from the fixed habits of body, life and mind that create a framework around each person's life, and then, on bringing down into the being a higher status of consciousness and aiding its transformation of the being in all its aspects. The eventual objective of the integral yoga was to provide conscious support to the natural process of evolution of consciousness, and thereby speed up its advent. The book Integral Yoga: Sri Aurobindo's Teaching and Method of Practice was compiled and organised from among the thousands of letters on yoga that Sri Aurobindo wrote to disciples and others over a number of years. It outlines his philosophical outlook, the background and basis of the integral yoga, and delves into a vast array of details which aid the sincere seeker in understanding the inner workings of consciousness, and helps the seeker to work through the difficulties, obstacles and resistances of nature to truly bring about a transformation of consciousness in all parts of his being.

Groomed in a modern academic tradition and post-Enlightenment ideals of creative freedom and social critique, Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950) turned his attention to yoga and the limits of consciousness in its ability to relate to and transform nature. In the process, he documented scrupulously his experiments and experiences based on a synergistic existential framework of practice. Debashish Banerji correlates the approach to yoga Sri Aurobindo took in his diaries with his later writings, to derive a description of human subjectivity and its powers. Banerji constellates Sri Aurobindo's approach with transpersonal psychology and contemporary lineages of phenomenology and ontology, to develop a transformative yoga psychology redefining the boundaries and possibilities of the human and opening up lines of self-practice towards a wholeness of being and becoming. Both scholar and Yogi, Aurobindo (1872-1950) carefully documented the unfolding of spiritual consciousness starting shortly after his deep revelatory experiences while in prison in 1908. His observations were recently published in a two volume set, The Record of Yoga. Debashish Banerji has analyzed this work and offers a detailed, clear, systematic and inspirational interpretation of how the Yoga of Sri Aurobindo may be understood and practiced.

This book discusses the profound philosophy and practical psychology behind yoga, beyond its popular body-culture aspect. It pays particular attention to the psychological principles involved and their implications for the consummate understanding of human nature. It explores the psychological aspects of yoga theory and practice and discusses the aphorisms in Patanjali’s treatise on Yoga with necessary commentary in current psychological terminology to make them intelligible to students of psychology and other interested readers. Importantly, the author draws out the implications of these aphorisms for future psychological study and research. The book discusses the author’s concept of yoga of nonviolence which brings in Gandhian ideas into the framework of yoga. The author’s own vast experience in creating interfaces of yoga research with practice also informs the discussions in this book. This authoritative and topical book by an eminent academic like Professor Ramakrishna Rao is of interest to scholars and students of diverse disciplines, including but not limited to psychology, philosophy and wellbeing research.