People are not generally consciously aware of the energy interchanges that take place to fuel their bodies and drive their live energies. They understand that they need to eat food as a form of ‘fuel’ for their energy, and they count ‘calories’ that are produced by various food sources. Clearly, ... Views: 310
We are frequently not aware of the state of boredom and its various manifestations within us. We do recognise periods when we feel at a loss and want to do or experience something or distract our minds and we recognise these times as boredom. What we do not necessarily recognise however are the ... Views: 414
For Sri Aurobindo, truth of the spirit is to be lived, not attained by abandonment of life in the world. He looks at the evolution of body, life and mind as steps along the evolutionary process, and each one of them represents an important stage in an ongoing development. The action of these ... Views: 507
When the seeker recognises the difficulties attendant upon gaining control and mastery of the subconscient, he looks for leverage to both become conscious of what is currently subconscious to his awareness, and to find ways to change the response and reactions that arise from the ... Views: 366
Most people get ‘wound up’ occasionally or frequently. This leads to what is called in Ayurveda ‘deranged vata’. Vata is the dosha that represents the air element in the being. The symptoms can include nervous tics, headaches, indigestion, insomnia, and a general feeling of lack of ease or ... Views: 532
In today’s world we are confronted by politicians and business leaders who act aggressively, beat their chests, berate others, bully and otherwise exhibit behavior that proclaims “might is right” and therefore, due to their financial power or physical strength, they have the right to control ... Views: 515
However difficult it is to predict specifically the destiny of any individual, due to the complex interactions that create that destiny (or shall we say ‘destinies’), there is still a sense that life carries out the path of the energies at work, as well as the trajectory those energies follow. ... Views: 367
We try, as human individuals, to make changes in our lives. Self-help information proliferates, and people try numerous methods to change various habits, cravings and directions in their lives. We have a proverb that it is harder to change human nature than to straighten out a dog’s tail, which ... Views: 791
The human mind tries to find patterns and meaning in things. We see random cloud shapes and we want to understand a ‘message’. We look into the night sky and create shapes out of stars which are enormous distances separated from one another by seeing a particular form or image in the pattern ... Views: 222
Every aspect of life, and every plane of existence vibrates at its own unique frequency. As an individual develops, he can begin to resonate with and respond to the vibrations of various levels of existence. This also gives him the ability to feel and recognise the similar vibration when it is ... Views: 322
An accident avoided. An individual related the following incident. He was driving with a passenger through Yellowstone National Park in the USA some years ago during the summer season in a van late in the afternoon. He had a sense or feeling of an impending accident involving a bison, although ... Views: 477
The physical body has an ingrained response, for most people, to vibrations that precipitate illnesses. The vector carrying that vibration (whether one calls it ‘germs’, ‘bacteria’, ‘virus’, or ‘suggestion’) strikes the protective vital envelope, or aura, surrounding the body. If it finds an ... Views: 164
In the field of medicine, there is a practice known as ‘differential diagnosis’ which examines symptoms and looks at the variety of potential causes before suggesting a remedy or curative action. The classic example is one of headache, which can have innumerable potential causes, including ... Views: 565
Western scientists tell us that the universe is always tending toward a state of lower energy and less organisation, a concept that call ‘entropy’. While this concept was developed and applied in the field of physics, particularly in the law of thermodynamics, it has been extended and claimed to ... Views: 331
When we reflect on the difficulties involved with both the transformation of the individual to a spiritual, gnostic consciousness and the need for this individual change to proliferate and transform society, it becomes necessary to focus on what the transitional phase or steps might be and how ... Views: 359
We tend to interpret events from our own ego-standpoint as to whether they are “good” or “bad” without reflecting on or considering how they relate to a larger picture and longer perspective. This means we judge circumstances as if they occur by ‘chance’ and we evaluate these things with the ... Views: 266
The change of human nature does not happen all at once, nor does it change every aspect or part of the being instantaneously. Once the divine Force begins to descend, it works its way systematically through the various parts of the being, starting with those that are most receptive to its action ... Views: 76
Our mental process tends to take us to extremes. We want simple answers, without a lot of nuance. Thus, when we seek spiritual liberation, we tend to take the concept of renunciation or rejection to mean that we abandon the external life to focus on our spiritual pursuits. If our vital nature ... Views: 130
The physical consciousness is very much driven by habit, routine and fixed response patterns. We can observe this in our eating routines, our sleep routines, and other habitual actions. The mind and the vital can influence the physical consciousness through programming routines or habits into ... Views: 62
When an action takes place in the world, it has a number of effects both in the world, and in the psychology of the individual carrying out the action. Each action creates a formation, a rhythm, or a solid result that tends to perpetuate and repeat itself on an ongoing basis. Thus, the more we ... Views: 651
The idea that there is a ‘law of attraction’ has gained significant attention in the West over the last few decades. It has largely been interpreted by the materialistic mind of the West as a way to attract wealth and all forms of fulfillment of desire. This, however, is both a misreading and a ... Views: 279
Understanding the operation of the three Gunas, or qualities of Nature, is an important part of understanding yogic psychology. The Bhagavad Gita devotes considerable effort to describing the Gunas and their functionality. For most people, however, translating things like reactions, responses, ... Views: 181
If we examine the nature of love as we see it in human society, there is a considerable amount of expectation, as well as ‘bargaining’, in our expressions of love. We tend to expect that the object of our love will reciprocate and return a measure of love, or some other concrete manifestation of ... Views: 657
Imagine we had to manage all the functions of the body through conscious attention by the mind, telling the body how to operate each organ, controlling each breath and heartbeat, controlling the energy production activities in the cells, etc. It would be clearly impossible. We depend entirely on ... Views: 591
One of the key points in any attempt to change one’s actions or reactions, one’s behaviour or characteristic ways of responding to situations, is to determine, through careful observation, that these things are not an essential part of oneself or one’s character; rather, that they are external ... Views: 330
Western psychology has investigated the impact of subtle forms of bias on what and how we perceive things, and how we interpret what we perceive. An individual’s cognitive bias subtly influences what he believes has occurred, and various people, witnessing the same event, but coming from ... Views: 451
The mind, with its need to correlate facts, gather evidence and develop proofs, finds it difficult, if not impossible, to credit ideas that seem to fall outside the logical reason based on the mind’s limited understanding of the oneness of the universal creation. The mind sets up certain ‘rules’ ... Views: 170
When an individual takes up the spiritual quest, he tends to accept certain principles of action which, by definition, contradict the values, principles and life-actions of his past experience. In many cases this causes a considerable amount of doubt and concern as he tries to overlay his ... Views: 143
When one steps back and begins to observe the mind’s action and what Swami Vivekananda calls the ‘mind-stuff’, chitta, a number of different statuses can be seen. The normal human mind is usually constantly active and it jumps from one thing to another in response to impulses, impressions, ... Views: 128
What does the evolution of a new power of consciousness imply? When we observe the impact that the Life-Force has had on Matter, we can see that it brings in a radical transformation of Matter itself to allow the Life-Force to act. Matter has to become more responsive, more flexible, less dense, ... Views: 560
With even a very cursory examination of the thoughts and sensations that enter our awareness, it becomes quite clear that there is a constant flow of sensations, impressions, perceptions, feelings, emotions and thoughts that seem to bombard us all the time. Our attention flits from one thing to ... Views: 536
Distraction is actually a symptom of another characteristic, that of “dispersion” of the consciousness. If we take the time to observe our own sense of awareness we find that it seems to be primarily on the surface of our being, receiving sense perceptions, reacting to people, things, events and ... Views: 536
If we observe ourselves carefully, we find that as a natural consequence of the distractions and the dispersion of the consciousness, we have little if any calm and peace in the being. We experience not only the more overt forms of anxiety and concern, but the more subtle forms of nervous ... Views: 584
We generally experience ourselves as our body, life and mind. When we injure our body, we say that we have hurt ourselves. When there are hunger pangs, we say that we are hungry. When we experience an emotion, we say that we have become angry, or are in love, or are feeling lonely or depressed. ... Views: 604
The dualities, or pairs of opposites, are recognised throughout the world as a condition of life. Night and day, positive and negative, and all other dualities, can be seen in material nature, as well as in our vital and emotional existence and in our minds. Electricity flows between positive ... Views: 611
The default standpoint for almost the entire human race is that of the ego. There are tribal societies that try to reduce the predominance of the ego through a collective mindset, but even in such societies, pride, rivalry for dominance, and other forms of ego persist. In the West, a premium is ... Views: 622
The West, in particular, believes in the power of thought to solve problems. The educational system focuses its attention on analysis and categorization, and eventually adds the precepts of logical thought as a methodology to work through problems step by step. The scientific method, as it is ... Views: 772
The Mother illustrates clearly the difference in how an individual responds when the psychic being is in front, guiding the mind, life and body, as opposed to what happens when it is in the background, either pushed back, or deeply hidden under the cover of the external being, leaving the mind, ... Views: 527
People in modern society are confused about the meaning, purpose, significance and value of their lives. The society sets goals for them that involve for the most part, material satisfactions through acquisition of wealth, family, and enjoyment, without any further insight provided as to why one ... Views: 532
As we take our standpoint primarily in the external nature, we are clearly subject to the action of the three Gunas, or ‘qualities’ of Nature. These qualities do not remain constant and are ever-changing, and they then determine the type of reaction and action an individual has in any particular ... Views: 421
The human propensity to set up ‘either/or’ scenarios leads us to believe that we either have to focus on ‘perfection’ or ‘speed’ in the things we do. This is actually a false choice because it leaves out the factor of concentration which can accomplish actions with speed while not sacrificing ... Views: 262
In order to be most effective in its action, the external nature must have the capacity of concentration of its efforts. Whether this is a mental concentration, or a vital or physical concentration, the focus must be total, without distraction, or it will yield less than the optimal ... Views: 238
People constantly ask whether they should concentrate focused in the heart, between the eyebrows or above the head. The short answer is “yes”. Each centre of concentration relies on a different power of action. In the end, what is more important is the action of concentration itself. An ... Views: 276
It is frequently noted that certain individuals seem to accomplish more, and despite enormous commitments, they seem ready to take on more and do even more than they are doing. On the other hand, there are individuals who seem to have a low threshold of action and they seem to never have the ... Views: 229
Sri Aurobindo describes two main areas of concentration within the being, the heart centre and the head. For most people, the concentration in the heart centre turns out to be the safest and easiest to achieve realisation. Yoga, to be effective, must move beyond either a purely mental exercise ... Views: 736
Some people, especially those with a naturally devotional nature, will gravitate toward concentration that is centred in the region of the heart. Others, who have a more intellectual turn, will find it easier in most instances to experience the concentration in the mental centre. This approach ... Views: 618
Traditional yogic disciplines advise the seeker to concentrate between the eyebrows, chanting OM and focusing on the Divine Will. Sri Aurobindo notes this practice, and develops it to provide access to the higher ranges of consciousness above the mental level. The Isha Upanishad notes that there ... Views: 759
In the Taittiriya Upanishad, Sri Aurobindo translates the term tapasya variously as ‘concentration in thought’ or ‘concentration of force’. Elsewhere he aligns the terms chit-shakti as ‘consciousness-force’, co-equal with the principles of sat, existence and ananda, bliss as the supreme ... Views: 194
People frequently confuse consciousness with mental awareness and concentration with some kind of mental effort or focus; yet, consciousness is not limited to mental awareness and concentration is not restricted to mental activity. We are all familiar with mental concentration. We focus on some ... Views: 368
Evolutionary change cannot be measured in one or two generations. Developing ideas and forces may be stirring under the surface, preparing to burst forth and, in the interim, remain relatively unseen. In the interim, life goes on as it has always gone on, with the vital and animal propensities ... Views: 427