Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book addresses three central issues of the Peter Heehs' controversy. The three critical issues are: the nature of Aurobindonian enquiry into religion, the status of religion within the academy, and the dialogue between conflicting viewpoints within the study of religion. The book begins with a brief introduction to Aurobindo and his texts. It investigates the first part of The Life Divine in light of the debate on reductionism within the study of religion. The book offers a reading of The Human Cycle as Aurobindo's philosophy of history, which provides the larger narrative that supplies meaning for Aurobindo's project. It brings together the contributions of each chapter with regard to the nature of Aurobindo's enquiry into religion, implications from the study of Aurobindo's texts for the religious–secular debate in the study of religion, and the dialogical hermeneutic approach.