"Poet, philosopher, visionary, and spiritual teacher, Sri Aurobindo has at last received the scholarly biography he deserves - and we need."

   -- Prof. Robert MacDermott of the California Institute of Integral Studies

The Lives of Sri Aurobindo easily constitutes the most comprehensive, thorough and balanced study of Aurobindo Ghose's life and thought to this date. Heehs's remarkable access to archival sources both at the ashram itself and in numerous other archives around the world establishes this text as the definitive study of Aurobindo's immense output in all of its genres and modes. The text humanizes and problematizes an historical figure whose complexity has been more or less lost to us via hagiography, piety and now Hindutva apologetics. In some very real sense, Heehs gives us back Aurobindo Ghose as a political figure, as a prolific writer, and as a religious teacher -- all in all, a remarkable accomplishment. His writing is clear, uncluttered, precise, and in places even quite beautiful. There are few scholarly texts that I can say I genuinely enjoyed reading, but this is one of them.  

 -- Jeffrey J. Kripal, author of Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion