Self Improvement Site
On The Internet! Take the Self Improvement Tour
On The Internet! Take the Self Improvement Tour
Articles from santosh krinsky | Selfgrowth.com
- Increasing Lifespan and Wellness Is the Trajectory of Human Development - by Submitted on May 23, 2024 from santosh krinskyIf we observe the trajectory of human development, we can see a very clear direction taking shape. As we have become more conscious of the stages of life, and the processes that accompany those stages, including the increasing weakening and deterioration of the body and the life energy, and the ...
Views: 305 - Individual Spiritual Change and the Collectivity - by Submitted on Mar 17, 2024 from santosh krinskyAs the evolutionary pressure begins to develop individuals who undergo the spiritual transformation we have been discussing, there is still the issue of how these individuals can impact the wider life of humanity. Isolated individuals surrounded by an untransformed mass of humanity and the ...
Views: 358 - Individual Spiritual Change and the Collectivity - by Submitted on May 05, 2024 from santosh krinskyAs the evolutionary pressure begins to develop individuals who undergo the spiritual transformation we have been discussing, there is still the issue of how these individuals can impact the wider life of humanity. Isolated individuals surrounded by an untransformed mass of humanity and the ...
Views: 334 - Individual Strength, the Power of Sincerity and the Action of the Divine Grace - by Submitted on Jul 09, 2025 from santosh krinskyParticularly in the West, historically, but more and more a world-wide phenomenon in the modern era, there is a strong bias toward the idea that one needs to be a “self-made man”, implying that it is through individual strength and accomplishment that one can accomplish anything. This bias is ...
Views: 132 - Individuality Is a Stage Along the Path of the Evolution of Consciousness - by Submitted on Dec 06, 2023 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo has indicated that the evolution of consciousness is carried out by the gradual and mostly unconscious action of the divine intention within Nature. At the stage of the human being, however, it becomes possible for the individual to “speed up” the slow action of Nature through ...
Views: 343 - Individuation Is Not Isolation from External Influences - by Submitted on Oct 23, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhen we reflect on the individuation process for which the ego-consciousness is the instrument of Nature, we oftentimes go to the extreme of believing that we are totally separate, independent and free of outside influence. We believe that our individuality is a wall of separation that keeps us ...
Views: 341 - Individuation Is Not Isolation from External Influences - by Submitted on Oct 23, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhen we reflect on the individuation process for which the ego-consciousness is the instrument of Nature, we oftentimes go to the extreme of believing that we are totally separate, independent and free of outside influence. We believe that our individuality is a wall of separation that keeps us ...
Views: 351 - Indulgence of Desire Does Not Lead to Rejection - by Submitted on Aug 19, 2025 from santosh krinskyIf we reflect on how we learn, how we gain skills, we find that one of the key elements is repetition. We train our muscles through repetition of an exercise regimen. We train our minds through repetition and we train our responses through repetition. At some point we embed the results of the ...
Views: 126 - Indulgence of Vital Desire Is Not a Solution — Neither is Suppression of the Vital - by Submitted on Jul 25, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe Mother illustrates the difficulty of transforming the vital nature. None of this is either fast or easy, given the complexity of human nature and, in particular, the vital being. There are also deeply entrenched habits of action and reaction and a general force of vital nature that lives in ...
Views: 527 - Infinite Grace: Overcoming the Law of Inertia to Effectuate Change - by Submitted on Aug 03, 2024 from santosh krinskyThe law of inertia holds that it takes energy to move something that is stationary, and the more massive the object is, the more energy required to move it. A similar principle operates in human actions. We have our fixed habits, whether physical habits, instincts, trained responses, ...
Views: 290 - Influence of the Supramental Principle on Earth - by Submitted on Apr 21, 2024 from santosh krinskyThe supramental consciousness, as the next evolutionary stage, will eventually resolve the difficulties of the transitional period and establish itself on earth. The question then arises, what is the relationship between the gnostic beings and the existing organisation of beings rooted in body, ...
Views: 319 - Inner Attitudes Towards Life, Towards Oneself and Others, Towards Work and Towards Difficulties - by Submitted on Feb 21, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe have previously explored the attitudes of the external, outer being in relation to these various issues. This is the opportunity to compare that view with the attitude of the inner being. At a certain point in an individual’s journey the development takes him beyond his initial fixation with ...
Views: 164 - Inner Growth Differs from Modern Concepts of Growth of Awareness - by Submitted on Nov 05, 2022 from santosh krinskyWe have seen a phenomenal growth of practices that bring attention to our daily actions. Mindfulness training asks us to attend to each movement, each step, each bite of food, and each thought and emotion. Clearly with the amount of distraction we suffer from as a result of our love affair with ...
Views: 498 - Inner Peace Is the Foundation and Basis for Spiritual Growth - by Submitted on Jun 27, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhen the spiritual seeker begins to recognise all of the difficulties and obstacles in his own external being, and understands the need to reduce and remove these obstacles if there is to be any permanent and major progress, he may begin by struggling with the desires, the movements that arise, ...
Views: 154 - Insights About the Need for Strength and Flexibility in the Practice of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Oct 10, 2025 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo makes several essential points here that bear some reflection. First, the need for strength in all the parts of the being. Until it actually begins to happen to an individual, he has no idea about the power of the Divine Force descending into the being and what impact it has on the ...
Views: 109 - Integral Purification of All Parts of the Being Is a First Preparation for the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Jan 19, 2023 from santosh krinskyIn the context of the practice of yoga, purification is not the enforcement of some kind of moral code or precepts. This is a common perception based on religious tenets that have abounded through the ages that set forth a moral code and try to both control the actions of people and judge them ...
Views: 427 - Integral Surrender to the Divine - by Submitted on Jul 07, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe tend to live under the illusion that we are one being and that what we think or feel represents ‘who we are’. We accept the idea that we are dedicated to a spiritual path, or we accept the sense of devotion that we feel as representing our surrender to the Divine Will. Yet, we have different ...
Views: 141 - Integral Yoga Method for Attaining Mastery Over the Force of Desire in the Lower Vital Nature - by Submitted on Dec 26, 2025 from santosh krinskyHumanity develops habits of response that tend to become ingrained in almost all approaches to any particular topic. This is found to be especially true when it comes to the question of religious dedication and spiritual aspiration. The default response to religious or spiritual devotion has ...
Views: 75 - Integral Yoga: Answering the Call - by Submitted on Apr 21, 2021 from santosh krinskyFor many, the idea of Yoga is physical postures and breathing techniques, to attain fitness and flexibility. This is not the whole story, however. Hatha Yoga, which has been popularized world-wide over the last 50 years or so, is one element of the much larger understanding of Yoga which we find ...
Views: 618 - Integral Yoga: Sri Aurobindo’s Teaching and Method of Practice — Summary and Conclusions - by Submitted on Apr 02, 2022 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo took up yoga, not for individual salvation or to abandon the life of the world, but to aid in transforming life, for action in the world. He developed a deep background and understanding of the major lines of thought and development of the West, including his studies of Greek and ...
Views: 632 - Intellectual Understanding and Understanding in the Consciousness - by Submitted on Mar 25, 2022 from santosh krinskyThose who find their basis primarily in the mind tend to believe that their intellectual understanding of something represents something real and definitive and that their “knowing” means they “know” something. This is however, not quite accurate. For instance, one can read books and “know” ...
Views: 515 - Intensity of an Experience Does Not Guarantee Its Veracity - by Submitted on Apr 14, 2023 from santosh krinskyThere are occasions when an individual experiences something that is so powerful, so intense, that it causes him to trust the experience. Spiritual experiences in particular can have a force that overwhelms the normal mental standpoint of the individual and impose themselves upon the seeker in a ...
Views: 422 - Interaction Between the Individual and His Social Relationships - by Submitted on Oct 24, 2023 from santosh krinskyThere is a subtle interaction that takes place in any social setting. Even an individual who is awake and conscious of his own thought and expression may, and frequently is, subtle impacted and influenced by the physical, vital and mental forces with which he is in contact. When an individual ...
Views: 361 - Interaction of the Mind, the Vital Envelope and the Physical Body in the Development of Acute Illness - by Submitted on Jul 11, 2023 from santosh krinskyFor most people, acute illness is an event of the body, which is subject to attack by various malign types of germs, bacteria and viruses. We tend to envision the body as a battlefield and the attacking germs aggressively target the cells and organs and the body fights back with an immune ...
Views: 506 - Interaction of the Powers of Consciousness in the Material World - by Submitted on Jul 06, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhile each power of consciousness, physical, vital, mental (and others) operates in its native mode and strength in its own plane or sphere of action, it projects itself into the world we inhabit by tying itself to the foundation of the basic physical principle. This involves a ‘watering down’ ...
Views: 423 - Interpreting Actions in the World Based on Our Preconceived Ideas and Notions - by Submitted on Jun 12, 2024 from santosh krinskyIn the Mahabharata, a story is related that illustrates the inability of anyone to judge an action by the outer form it takes or the result that eventuates. The birth of Bhishma is related in the Adi Parva. Prince Shantanu fell in love with a beautiful woman he met and asked her to marry him. ...
Views: 420 - Introduction to Living Within: the Yoga Approach to Psychological Health and Growth by Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, compiled by Dr. A.S. Dalal - by Submitted on Apr 03, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhat is psychological health and growth? Western psychology tends to define psychological health as the absence of various forms of extreme disturbance or disruption. ‘Normal” levels of dissatisfaction, upset-ness, are considered to be both acceptable and part of everyday life. It is only when ...
Views: 616 - Introduction to Looking from Within: A Seeker’s Guide to Attitudes for Mastery and Inner Growth - by Submitted on Feb 09, 2025 from santosh krinskyHow do we look at our lives? Do we find any meaning or purpose in living? Or are we just here to live a material existence, enjoy ourselves as much as possible, try to avoid suffering and eventually die without much pain? Many people do not take the opportunity to shift their perspective on ...
Views: 179 - Introduction to the Higher Levels of Consciousness Beyond the Mind - by Submitted on Oct 16, 2025 from santosh krinskyWestern psychology has begun to explore the levels and ‘realms’ of mind. This study has been going on for many hundreds, if not thousands, of years in India, where the psychological framework of ‘inner space’ has been a key focus of yogic psychology. Western study started with the mental powers ...
Views: 103 - Introduction to the Subconscient Level of Consciousness - by Submitted on Apr 24, 2022 from santosh krinskyWestern psychology has invested a considerable amount of time and energy in trying to understand, describe and treat the subconscious levels of our existence. Freud described various complexes that arose from the subconscious and which drove the being into actions that the conscious parts ...
Views: 574 - Intuition - by Submitted on Jun 16, 2023 from santosh krinskyThe popular idea about intuition is tied to some kind of unexplainable process of "knowing" that people go through. If it is purely based in the type of extrapolation from past experience, or some sense that drives the decision without careful and logical analysis, it is still based in the ...
Views: 577 - Intuition and the Need for Self-Surrender - by Submitted on Jan 29, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe get an intimation of what we should do, how we should respond to a situation. Then all the excuses and justifications and ‘needs’ and temporizing begin, and we find that there are good reasons why we should not do exactly, in the precise way, that the inner guidance tells us something should ...
Views: 254 - Invisible Forces in Our Lives and in Our Evolutionary Growth - by Submitted on Apr 10, 2021 from santosh krinskyWe do not consider, for the most part, the reliance we have for all things in our lives in the world, upon invisible forces that are at work. We basically take these things for granted, give them names and treat them as a reality that we do not have to think about or reflect upon. No one can ...
Views: 700 - Involution and Evolution of Consciousness in the Material World of Forms - by Submitted on Jun 25, 2024 from santosh krinskyWe observe the material world around us and as we study that world, we see the development of forms of ever-greater complexity and power of action and intelligence. Charles Darwin described the process of the evolution of forms in his book The Origin of Species. The cause and purpose, however, ...
Views: 325 - Involution, Evolution and the Pressure from Domains of Life and Mind - by Submitted on Jul 06, 2024 from santosh krinskyWe tend to take the development of life, and mind, for granted. We do not actually reflect on what it takes for them to emerge from Matter. Many believe that somehow various chemical elements in the material world are impacted by the radiation from the sun and through the heat of the core of the ...
Views: 273 - Is Every Man Capable of ‘Sinful Behavior” Under Certain Circumstances? - by Submitted on Apr 11, 2025 from santosh krinskyCultured and educated people often believe that they could not stoop to certain actions or be guilty of certain motives in their actions, or simply react to circumstances in a way other than that of their predominant mental view of themselves. They may look down on those who appear to them to be ...
Views: 159 - Is Inner Spiritual Growth Possible While Engaging with the External World? - by Submitted on Feb 15, 2022 from santosh krinskyIf we look at the spiritual and religious traditions of the world, we find that a recurring theme is the need of the true seeker to disassociate himself from the outer life of the world. This is done to focus the attention on the spiritual quest and to avoid the distractions, disruptions and ...
Views: 571 - Is It Realistic to Expect Instant Transformation of Human Nature? - by Submitted on Jan 13, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe live in a time where we expect everything to happen instantly. We want to take a pill and achieve ‘instant enlightenment’. Life is speeding up with enhancements to communications, travel, and devices that make us react faster every day. Life itself seems to have speeded up and days disappear ...
Views: 520 - Is It Sleep, Or Is It Samadhi? - by Submitted on Feb 23, 2026 from santosh krinskyWhen the consciousness moves inward, away from the awareness of the external reality, it is frequently interpreted as ‘sleep’ by those who experience it for the first time. The reason they believe it is sleep is due to a lack of communication between that inward state of consciousness and the ...
Views: 50 - Is It the Soul or the Vital Being We Perceive? - by Submitted on Jan 01, 2024 from santosh krinskyMost people are rooted in the vital consciousness, and thus respond to the vibrations that occur within the vital realm. Unless they have contact with their soul or at least clear influence by the psychic being on the external parts of the being, they are virtually unable to recognise the action ...
Views: 312 - Is Spiritual Force Real? - by Submitted on Jul 21, 2024 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo once told about an incident that helped spark his interest in yoga-force. His brother was very ill. A wandering yogi came by and when he learned on that illness, asked for a glass of water which he then proceeded to infuse with mantas. The illness was quickly overcome once Sri ...
Views: 321 - Is the Mental Consciousness an Aid or an Obstacle for the Spiritual Seeker? - by Submitted on Aug 03, 2023 from santosh krinskyEvery level of consciousness is limited by the frame within which it operates, as well as by the mechanism of its action within that frame. In its own field of action, with its own native operation, the mind can be a powerful tool and aid to the individual. Yet, when it tries to assert for ...
Views: 416 - is there a solution to the Israel/Palestine Problem? - by Submitted on Oct 13, 2023 from santosh krinskyis there a solution to the Israel/Palestine Problem? There is so much history and so much hatred built up. Acts of overt terrorism, including attacks on civilian targets, women, children, etc. are not justifable. The Israelis righfully point out that they have a right to defend themselves, ...
Views: 543 - Is There Any Certitude About the Supramental Manifestation Actually Taking Place? - by Submitted on Mar 27, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe mind of the modern day wants to analyze facts and draw conclusions based on those facts. For centuries, the movement has been away from reliance on belief and faith to a reliance on facts and rational analysis. One need only look at the history of the rise of Western science and the disputes ...
Views: 674 - Isolation, Introspection, Introversion and the Witness Consciousness - by Submitted on Aug 08, 2025 from santosh krinskyA young person, around 20 years of age, reported an experience he had while visiting a beer hall in Munich, Germany with some friends and acquaintances. As could be expected, there was a lot of noise, clinking of glasses, singing, laughing, story-telling among his friends, as well as generally ...
Views: 135 - Issues in the Establishment of Equanimity and Peace in the Being - by Submitted on Feb 01, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe have long-established instincts that harken back to the animal kingdom, in what we may call the “fight or flight” response. This instinct is deeply embedded and lies at the root of one of the biggest obstacles to achieving calm and peace in the being. Every impulse we receive from outside ...
Views: 665 - Issues in Understanding the Mechanism of Sleep and Dreams - by Submitted on Aug 25, 2021 from santosh krinskyWe spend a large percentage of our lives in the realm of sleep, and the dreams that accompany the sleep state. We have very little actual knowledge of what takes place during our period of sleep, although scientists do extensive studies on the electrical activity in the brain during sleep and ...
Views: 562 - Jivatman and Psychic Being - by Submitted on Mar 21, 2026 from santosh krinskySpiritual seekers have differing affinities and capacities from which they begin their conscious spiritual focus. Some of them take up the seeking for the Self, the Jivatman, with liberation from the illusion of the external world and its temptations as a primary objective. They practice Jnana ...
Views: 27 - Judging Others - by Submitted on Feb 25, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe surface being, under the influence of the vital ego, loves to criticize others and ‘gossip’ about them. This is a method of ‘puffing up’ or inflating the ego by dragging down others. It also wastes considerable time and energy by focusing on what are for the most part superficial things in a ...
Views: 692 - Just Because We Cannot Observe It Directly, Does Not Mean Spiritual Force Does Not Exist - by Submitted on Jul 22, 2024 from santosh krinskyA devotee reported several incidents that appeared to be the result of spiritual force. The first occurred in early 1973 in Los Angeles. He attended a talk by Udar Pinto of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and afterwards joined his party for dinner, at which there was extensive discussion. Udar told the ...
Views: 281