Integral yoga or purna yoga (Sanskrit for full or complete yoga) refers in Sri Aurobindo's teachings to the union of all the parts of one's being with the Divine, and the transmutation of all of their jarring elements into a harmonious state of higher divine consciousness and existence. 

Sri Aurobindo describes the nature and practice of integral yoga in his opus The Synthesis of Yoga. As the title of that work indicates, his integral yoga is a yoga of synthesis, intended to harmonize the paths of karma, jnana, and bhakti yoga as described in the Bhagavad Gita. It can also be considered a synthesis between Vedanta and Tantra, and even between Eastern and Western approaches to spirituality. 

Textual sources

The theory and practice of Integral Yoga is described in several works by Sri Aurobindo. His book The Synthesis of Yoga, the first version of which appeared in the Arya, was written as a practical guide, and covers all aspects of Integral Yoga. Additional and revised material is found in several of the later chapters of The Life Divine and in other works. Later, his replies to letters and queries by disciples (mostly written during the early 1930s) were collected into a series of volumes, the Letters on Yoga. There is also Sri Aurobindo's personal diary of his yogic experiences, written during the period from 1909 to 1927, and only published under the title Record of Yoga.  

The aim of integral yoga

Most yogas only develop a single aspect of the being, and have as their aim a state of liberation or transcendence. But the aim of integral yoga is the transformation of the entire being. Because of this, the various elements of one's make-up - Physical, Vital, Mental, Psychic, and Spiritual, and the means of their transformation, are described in great detail by Sri Aurobindo, who in this way formulates an entire integral psychology. The goal is then the transformation of the entire nature of one's being. Nothing is left behind 

Also distinguishing Sri Aurobindo's teaching from most other mystical paths is the need for transformation of the personal and relative nature. So the integral yoga is two-fold; both a spiritual realisation of God or Transcendence or Enlightenment, and, through this, a complete change and transformation of both the inner and the outer nature. Through this double action, one is thus made able and fit to manifest a divine consciousness, and in this way becomes part of a divine work. 

Sri Aurobindo also details various dangers that the sadhak may encounter on the spiritual path. 

The other major topic in Sri Aurobindo's integral yoga is the Triple transformation. This descibes the process through which reality is transformed into the divine. 

Components of the integral yoga

In Sri Aurobindo's integral psychology, and for that matter his metaphysic as a whole, the cosmos is described in terms of two major types of distinctions or dimensions. On the one hand there is an ascending dimension of physical, vital, mental, and higher, transpersonal realms. At the same time, there is the series of Outer being, the Inner being, and the inmost Psychic being. Outer, Inner, and Innermost Being form a "concentric" sequence or hierarchy, which is a counterpart to the "vertical" hierarchy of Physical, Vital, and Mental. All these faculties and levels have to be transformed through Integral yoga. 

Physical

Like all the faculties of the being, and in contrast to the ascetic yogas, the Physical in all its aspects is not rejected, but has to be transformed and spiritualised through the practice of Integral Yoga. This means it is necessary not only to change Physical habits and consciousness, but also to descend into the Subconscient or Lower Unconscious, where the root of many problems lie. 

Vital

The Vital refers not only to the life force but even more so to the various desires, emotions, compulsions, and likes and dislikes that strongly determine human motivation and action. In Integral yoga it is necessary to change the vital's striving away from self-centered desires and revolts, to make it an instrument for the yoga. 

Mental

The Mental faculty or part of the being, is the conceptual and cognitive mind. Through right attitude, understanding, and aspiration, the mind can be turned to the Divine

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