The Unknown is not the Unknowable; it need not remain the unknown for us, unless we choose ignorance or persist in our first limitations . . . we may choose not to develop them; where they are partially developed, we may discourage and impose on them a kind of atrophy. But, fundamentally all possible knowledge is knowledge within the power of humanity . . . .

Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) was an Indian guru, yogi, writer, and political activist who fought for Indian independence before devoting himself to spiritual life and developing the philosophy of Integral yoga, in which spiritual transcendence within one’s present life is the aim of creation. With his spiritual partner, Mirra Alfassa (called The Mother), Sri Aurobindo established an ashram, now called the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, in Puducherry, India.