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Articles from santosh krinsky | Selfgrowth.com
- Dealing with the Physical Mind in the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Oct 20, 2021 from santosh krinskyPractitioners of spiritual and religious disciplines inevitably are confronted with the habits and expectations of the physical mind in day to day life. There is a constant pressure to provide regular meals that suit the taste of the individual, comfortable surroundings to support the day to day ...
Views: 565 - Dealing With the Reactive Impulses of the Vital Nature of the External Personality - by Submitted on May 15, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe tend to be reactive by nature. Something occurs and we immediately capture the vibration and respond to it. Thus we have outbursts of anger when we are frustrated or feel insecure, or when something gets in the way of some idea, intention or movement we want to undertake. An example of this ...
Views: 174 - Dealing with the Subconscient Elements of the Being - by Submitted on Aug 23, 2022 from santosh krinskyAs the individual confronts the various impulses, emotions, drives and thoughts that arise and drive his life and action, he begins to recognise that there are elements that are not easily identified on the surface, and that there is something that cannot quite be grabbed with the intellect, ...
Views: 534 - Dealing With Vital Forces of Opposition to the Spiritual Sadhana Through the Intervention of The Divine Shakti, the Mother - by Submitted on Dec 11, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe vital forces that have, for the most part, gained substantial control of the earth-nature’s vital existence, are very protective of their ‘turf’, so to speak. They do not cede the ground easily, and once they are dismissed from an individual’s nature, they still maintain both their existence ...
Views: 93 - Death, the Conquest of Death, and the Supramental Transformation - by Submitted on Oct 11, 2021 from santosh krinskyIn his lectures on Raja Yoga, Swami Vivekananda points out clearly that chasing after powers or siddhis as they are called, is not the aim of the yoga and can be a distraction from the primary goal. They may come, but should not be sought after or made a primary determinant of the yogic process ...
Views: 665 - Deciding How To Act Amidst Conflicting Value Sets - by Submitted on May 18, 2026 from santosh krinskyPeople frequently have to wrestle with conflicting emotions, unclear and confusing thoughts and the need to balance duties, demands or considerations that appear to be opposed to one another. In some cases, we obtain facts which, if expressed to another person, will presumably cause them ...
Views: 3 - Delving into the Complexity of Determining an Individual’s Destiny in Life - by Submitted on Nov 24, 2023 from santosh krinskyTo understand the complexity of any individual’s destiny, it is essential to note that it is comprised of an amalgam of the streams of energy that flow through each aspect of his being. Thus, there is a physical destiny, a vital destiny, a mental destiny, a spiritual destiny, each following the ...
Views: 540 - Depression and Spiritual Progress - by Submitted on May 31, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe are all subject to the action of the three Gunas or qualties of Nature. They are always shifting. As they shift, our outlook, mood, physical responsiveness, vital energy and mental framework all undergo corresponding changes. None of the three Gunas remains constantly in the forefront, so ...
Views: 133 - Depression and the Influence of the Gunas in Spiritual Development - by Submitted on Nov 28, 2021 from santosh krinskyThere is a strong inclination for those spiritual practitioners who particularly follow a way of devotion, regardless of religious tradition around the world, to cry out for the presence of the Divine and to lament any feeling of separation. Depending on the play of the Gunas, this can take ...
Views: 543 - Desire and True Need for a Yogic Practitioner - by Submitted on Dec 31, 2021 from santosh krinskyToday’s civilisation is fixated on possession and ownership of material things, and people are generally respected and honored for their ability to accumulate resources. This has led to extreme inequality in terms of the resources available for use by people on the planet, as a very small number ...
Views: 599 - Desire — and the Need to Control Desire - by Submitted on Apr 20, 2022 from santosh krinskyPeople believe that suppression of the vital forces that are actuated by the force of desire can lead to imbalance and mental illness. For this reason, Western psychology has recommended the moderate expression of these forces, and has generally counseled having a healthy vital life that does ...
Views: 591 - Desires, Yoga and the Process of Overcoming the Promptings of the Lower Nature - by Submitted on Dec 26, 2021 from santosh krinskyChange implies giving up something that is currently active and replacing it with something new and different. A change of consciousness, a shift from the normal human egoistic standpoint to the divine standpoint, implies similarly that the normal human habits, traits, actions, drives and ...
Views: 649 - Detachment from and Mastery of the Surface Nature - by Submitted on May 27, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhen we are first confronted with the concept of detachment from our external nature, we tend to approach it from a mental standpoint and thus, try to shut down our emotions and mental reactions with various types of response such as forms of stoicism, renunciation, or a show of non-caring, or ...
Views: 543 - Detachment, Liberation and Mastery - by Submitted on Aug 14, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe question of detachment, renunciation, is frequently interpreted as one of avoidance and a rejection of the external life in the world. It most often turns to austerity. If one follows this line of approach to its logical conclusion, the only solution is to renounce all action, renounce all ...
Views: 124 - Determining the Appropriate Posture for Beginning with Meditation - by Submitted on Feb 17, 2023 from santosh krinskyFor someone beginning with meditation, every aspect of the process raises a question. One of these questions relates to the body. The eventual goal is to attain a state whereby meditation can occur regardless of what the body is doing or how it is positioned. However, this is not usually the way ...
Views: 602 - Determinism in the Exercise of Free Will — Free Will in the Carrying Out of Determinism - by Submitted on Mar 21, 2024 from santosh krinskyWe generally jump to extremes in our way of looking at things from our normal, mental viewpoint. Thus, we either want to accept that everything is absolutely determined and thus, every move we make, every action, every reaction, is choreographed down to the slightest detail; or else, we want to ...
Views: 294 - Developing a Power to Perceive and Understand Ourselves and Our World By Minimizing the Distortions and Biases That Are Inherent in Our Human Instrumentation and Process - by Submitted on Aug 12, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhenever we try to understand something, we are met with various types of inherent biases that skew the determinations we make. Not only are our senses, our perceptions and our thoughts subject to various forms of filtering, but they are also skewed by our past experience, the fact that our ...
Views: 137 - Developing a Strong Power of Knowledge and Will To Manage and Control the Vital Nature - by Submitted on May 18, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhile a reaction may seem to be taking place instantaneously, it is always conditioned by prior acts or events, the chain of cause and effect, dependent origination or the law of karma, however one wants to term it. By adopting the standpoint of the witness consciousness, observing the external ...
Views: 164 - Developing and Expressing the Flame of Divine Love While Avoiding the Misappropriation of the Energy for Lower Vital Gratification - by Submitted on Jul 08, 2021 from santosh krinskySuppression of the vital being and the emotions is often prescribed by those following a spiritual or religious discipline, due to the mixed nature of the expression that occurs in an untransformed and unpurified vital being. It is also true that there have been a number of cases, including high ...
Views: 624 - Developing and Integrating Calm and Peace in the Being - by Submitted on Feb 05, 2023 from santosh krinskyIf we remain constantly in active motion and react to all the sense impressions and pressures that impinge upon us from the outer world, it is difficult to achieve a status of calm or peace. One of the values of sitting regularly for a time of quiet reflection, meditation or concentration is ...
Views: 518 - Developing Aspiration Without Admixture of Desire - by Submitted on May 04, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe Bhagavad Gita devotes considerable focus to the operation of the three gunas, qualities of the action of the nature, Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas. The Gita indicates that all actions are modified and controlled by the action of the gunas. This includes the practice of spiritual sadhana. Rajas ...
Views: 653 - Developing Gnostic Living Amidst a World of Opposition - by Submitted on Mar 10, 2024 from santosh krinskyAnother, and serious, issue that arises is the relationship of the gnostic individuals and community to that wider world of humanity and life in general which remains based in the physical, vital and mental principles and thus, continues to operate on the basis of division, fragmentation and the ...
Views: 325 - Developing Harmonious Relationships with Close Family, Friends and Associates - by Submitted on Feb 24, 2022 from santosh krinskyEven among those closest to one another, there remain differences of habit and temperament. Issues of personal grooming, dietary choices, choices in music or other media interactions, time commitments, interactions about caring for the common shared space all work to create minor daily ...
Views: 605 - Developing Receptivity to the Action of the Higher Force for Transformation of the Nature - by Submitted on Apr 24, 2021 from santosh krinskyWe turn our attention and focus normally to the needs of the body, the desires and ambitions of the vital being, the impact of perceptions and the thought processes of our minds. Even when we take up a spiritual path, we try to find a practice that may involve the body, the life-energy and / or ...
Views: 627 - Developing the Inner Poise of Equality in the Practice of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on May 22, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe more reactive we are to people and events, the more dispersed our awareness is and this draws away from the ability of the practitioner of the yoga to create and maintain the inner connection to the spiritual force that is pressing to manifest the next phase of the evolutionary development. ...
Views: 576 - Developing the Power of Supraphysical Sight - by Submitted on Aug 19, 2021 from santosh krinskyIf we accept the idea that supraphysical sight is a latent power of humanity, and not some kind of illusion or otherwise some miraculous special power, then we can seek to understand the conditions under which this power manifests, and show, first, that it is something that is reproducible and ...
Views: 712 - Developing the Power to Remove Illnesses from the Physical Body - by Submitted on Jun 15, 2025 from santosh krinskyAn illness is a vibrational pattern that impacts the body and its normal operations. If one does not succeed in rejecting it before it breaks through the protective vital sheath and then, if one fails to prevent it from taking hold at all in the physical body, one is left with having to deal ...
Views: 183 - Developing the Proper Attitude of Yogic Equality in Relation to Present Reality and Future Development - by Submitted on Jun 04, 2022 from santosh krinskyWe tend to view everything from our individual ego-standpoint, and as a result, we take difficulties as being our own, as well as any obstacles, setbacks or delays being directly tied to ourselves. We tend to believe that we are either bound by some karmic destiny, or by the astrological pattern ...
Views: 984 - Developing Will-Power - by Submitted on Jan 15, 2024 from santosh krinskyWhen we are interested in something we naturally focus on that to the exclusion of other distractions. Time passes and we do not notice it. Things that would ordinarily engage our attention are disregarded. This power of ‘one pointed’ concentration is however elusive when it arises just out of ...
Views: 380 - Development from Witness of the Nature to Master of the Nature - by Submitted on Aug 09, 2025 from santosh krinskySankhya philosophy, also referenced in the Bhagavad Gita and certain Upanishads with respect to its understanding of the respective roles of the Purusha, the witness consciousness and Prakriti, the active nature, provides a guiding light for those seeking liberation from bondage to the external ...
Views: 137 - Development of the Witness Consciousness Separate from the Analytical Mind Is Needed to Truly Understand the Springs of Action in Mind, Life and Body - by Submitted on May 07, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe ability to perceive, understand and modify the actions of the body, life and mind requires the development of a new standpoint outside of the body-life-mind complex. For this reason, the attempt to undertake this process with the analytical power of the mind is bound to fail. Not only can ...
Views: 547 - Differences Between the Practice of Magic and Spiritual Action - by Submitted on May 31, 2024 from santosh krinskyIt is an obvious fact that as one grows and develops in the spiritual path, the concentration of conscious force, tapasya, will definitely increase not only the spiritual development, but also the powers that the individual has available to accomplish action in his life in the world. In the ...
Views: 277 - Difficulties Are Blessings If We Know How to Face Them - by Submitted on May 12, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhether we term it divine Will, synchronicity, coherence, quantum entanglement, cause and effect, dependent origination, karma, or the law of attraction (or any other terminology), there remains a truth that the specific time, place and circumstance we occupy in the world is due to a stream of ...
Views: 146 - Difficulties Provide the Possibility of Progress - by Submitted on May 14, 2025 from santosh krinskyIf we examine the times and phases of our lives, we find that when things seem to be going smoothly forward and we feel great, we want to enjoy and appreciate the good times. We thus tend to slacken our efforts so that we can get the most out of the positive energies we are experiencing. This is ...
Views: 137 - Difficulties, Obstacles and the Spiritual Path - by Submitted on Mar 13, 2023 from santosh krinskyEvery individual faces difficulties during his lifetime. They may be difficulties imposed due to external circumstances attendant on one’s birth, cultural or societal position, opportunities, or economic prospects. They may be difficulties that arise due to climate or natural disasters. They may ...
Views: 473 - Discernment of Good and Bad Thoughts - by Submitted on Jun 18, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhen we initially reflect on “what is a good thought” and “what is a bad thought”, the first ideas that arise almost inevitably harken back to whatever cultural, moral or ethical code prevails within the society of the time, whether this is based on religion or developed cultural understandings ...
Views: 623 - Discovering One’s Role or Mission in Life - by Submitted on May 02, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhen we are fixed in the external personality we take our cues about our role in life from our family, our friends, the social and economic environment and, with that framing, our particular interests and aptitudes. As a child we may want to emulate people in uniforms and thus, may want to be a ...
Views: 413 - Discrimination to Recognise the Distinction of Different Forces and the Various Parts of the Being is Necessary for the Spiritual Seeker - by Submitted on May 31, 2023 from santosh krinskyThe Buddhist tradition describes Manjushri as a Bodhisattva who, with his flaming sword of discrimination, cuts through illusion and falsehood to disclose the truth of existence. The power of discrimination between different powers, forces, impressions, suggestions, and their source and intent ...
Views: 745 - Distinguishing an Attitude of Equality From One of Indifference - by Submitted on Apr 07, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe mental framework frequently wants to find an “either/or” option rather than looking at the nuance needed to resolve multiple views of pending questions. Thus, when we are asked to consider achieving a poise of equality in the face of provocation of any sort, positive or negative, we will ...
Views: 165 - Distinguishing and Addressing Undivine and Antidivine Forces - by Submitted on Nov 20, 2025 from santosh krinskyThere is a real difference in motivation and intention between what may be considered to be ignorant responses, and those that are malignant. Seekers face a difficulty or some resistance in the external nature constantly. For the most part, this resistance is due to the long embedded habits and ...
Views: 88 - Distinguishing Between Personal Growth and Inner Growth - by Submitted on Oct 27, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhile humanity embodies the development of the mental consciousness, in principle, it must be noted that this generalisation does not apply specifically to each and every human individual. Just as the field of statistics does not predict any single event, and the observational experiments of ...
Views: 518 - Distinguishing Between the Mind, the Vital Mind and the Physical Mind in the Process of Yogic Sadhana - by Submitted on Mar 11, 2021 from santosh krinskyWe transcribe and filter impulses and feelings that arise from the physical body and the vital action through our minds, and thus, we generally confuse the awareness or the response that arises through this process as a mental functioning. Sri Aurobindo distinguishes between the physical mind, ...
Views: 799 - Distinguishing Between the Qualities of Quiet, Calm, Peace and Silence in the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on May 13, 2021 from santosh krinskyNear the top of the “wish list” for most spiritual aspirants is achieving “peace”. This is generally understood however in a very personal sense to alleviate the turmoil, dissention and conflict that invariably arises in our normal circumstances living in the world. It is rarely appreciated ...
Views: 635 - Distinguishing Concentration and Meditation - by Submitted on Jun 17, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe great epic of India, the Mahabharata, provides various illustrations of concentration in the recounting of the actions of Arjuna, who was the pre-eminent archer of the time and whose actions led to victory. The first example was provided during his youth as he, and his siblings and cousins ...
Views: 753 - Distinguishing Concentration and Meditation from One Another - by Submitted on Feb 20, 2023 from santosh krinskyIf we observe the mental status that takes place at times when we focus on achieving some objective or other, taking a test, working on a project, running a race, playing music, or creating some work of art, for example, we see that the attention is focused intensely on the task at hand, and ...
Views: 689 - Distinguishing Magic from Occultism - by Submitted on May 30, 2024 from santosh krinskyThere is considerable confusion between the concept of occultism and the idea of the practice of magic (whether considered ‘white’ magic or ‘black’ magic). Occultism essential is the science of dealing with forces subliminal to our outer senses, but nevertheless active and acting upon our being. ...
Views: 277 - Distinguishing Psychic Experience from Occult or Abnormal Experience - by Submitted on Mar 12, 2026 from santosh krinskyHow does one distinguish between psychic experience, as defined by Sri Aurobindo, as soul experiences, from the vast array of experiences that occur on the mental or vital planes that have been called ‘psychic’ phenomena? Once one has the clue about the different parts of the being and their ...
Views: 35 - Distinguishing Rapid Process of Thought from True Intuition - by Submitted on Jan 26, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe occasionally meet people who seem to be highly intuitive. With very few facts, and with a very fast response time, they seem to understand and decide things successfully that we are struggling to deal with, and for which we need considerably more time. In some cases, there may be the ...
Views: 255 - Distinguishing Soul from Vital Being - by Submitted on Mar 16, 2026 from santosh krinskyThe lack of experience and recognition of the action of the soul makes it difficult for most people to understand the reality of the soul. For this reason, people tend to confuse the true soul with the vital soul of desire, which Sri Aurobindo calls the ‘desire-soul’. This is an expression of ...
Views: 33 - Distinguishing the Location of the Conscious Awareness from the Object of Meditation - by Submitted on Jun 25, 2021 from santosh krinskyIt is a somewhat frequent occurrence that the instruction to meditate on the space behind the heart, or between the eyebrows is taken to be the meditation itself. There is a difference between where one “seats” one’s consciousness during meditation and the object of the meditation. Sri Aurobindo ...
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