"This spiritual age would be characterized by the dominance of a spiritual ideal and trend in world culture." Sri Aurobindo



Asceticism for its own sake is not the ideal of this Yoga, but self-control in the vital and right order in the material are a very important part of it -- and even an ascetic discipline is better for our purpose than a loose absence of true control.

Mastery of the material implies in it the right and careful utilization of things and also a self-control in their use.
Forceful suppression (fasting also comes under the head) stands on the same level as free indulgence; in both cases, the desire remains: in the one it is fed by indulgence, in the other it lies latent and exasperated by suppression.
- Sri Aurobindo



Discovering the hidden meaning of the Vedas

One of the most significant contributions of Sri Aurobindo to Hinduism was his setting forth an esoteric meaning of the Vedas. The Vedas were considered by some to be composed by a barbaric culture worshipping violent Gods. Sri Aurobindo felt that this was due to a biased view of Western scholars who had preconceived views on Hindu culture.[citation needed]

Sri Aurobindo believed there was a hidden spiritual meaning in the Vedas. He viewed the Rig Veda as a spiritual text written in a symbolic language in which the outer meaning was concerned with ritualistic sacrifices to the gods, and the inner meaning, which was revealed only to initiates, was concerned with an inner spiritual knowledge and practice, the aim of which was to unite in consciousness with the Divine.

In this conception, Indra is the God of Mind lording over the Indriyas, that is, the senses (sight, touch, hearing, taste etc). Vayu represents air, but in its esoteric sense means Prana, or the life force. So when the Rig Veda says “Call Indra and Vayu to drink Soma Rasa” the inner meaning is to use mind through the senses and life force to receive divine bliss (Soma means wine of Gods, but in several texts also means divine bliss, as in Right-handed Tantra). Agni, the God of the sacrificial fire in the outer sense, is the flame of the spiritual will to overcome the obstacles to unite with the Divine. So the sacrifice of the Vedas could mean sacrificing ones ego to the internal Agni, the spiritual fire.

Sri Aurobindo's theory of the inner spiritual significance of the Vedas originally appeared serially in the journal Arya between 1914 and 1920, but was later published in book form as “The Secret of the Veda." Another book, "Hymns to the Mystic Fire," is Sri Aurobindo's translation of the spiritual sense of many of the verses of the Rig Veda.
Sri Aurobindo says that “delight is the soul of existence,” and “beauty is the concentrated form of delight.” He indicates that behind all things, whatever their appearance to the surface mind, there is an intrinsic spiritual delight and beauty. This bliss inherent in all existence is called Ananda in the ancient Indian scriptures, and it is this deeper delight and beauty in the essence of things that moves the poet and finds expression through poetry.

Sri Aurobindo believed that a great spiritual destiny awaits humanity. He indicated that the future poetry would be inspired by and express this greater spiritual consciousness and life. The spirituality that it could thus reveal and inspire in mankind is the view of existence as a progressive manifestation of the Divine in the universe and mankind's life as a field for a possible transformation into a new and perfected and divinised life.

It would help open humanity to its deepest soul, to the higher levels of mind and spirit and to the vastness of the cosmic consciousness.

It would show a solution and way of deliverance for humanity from its vital unrest and mental questioning by the uplifting strength of the Spirit within and its supporting calmness and power of knowledge and mastery.

It would reveal the unity of the self with other conscious beings in Nature, the soul and life of the plant and animal, the soul and life of things that seem inert.

It would reveal to mankind the meaning of existence, express the universal delight and beauty and power of a higher life, and the infinite potentialities of our future existence.

We find in Savitri, Sri Aurobindo's epic poem of about 24,000 lines in blank verse, a wonderful expression of the future poetry that he described and predicted. Based on a tale from the ancient Indian epic, The Mahabharata, of love conquering death, Savitri describes in vivid detail and grand proportions the nature and significance of existence, the secret worlds and inner experiences of a master Yogi, the many layers and levels of human and cosmic consciousness, the reason of suffering, and the way out. In this poem one can begin to see and feel the spiritual nuances that are described so intricately and exhaustively in Sri Aurobindo's prose works.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Aurobindo