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Consciousness and Awareness Articles
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- Overcoming Desire Without Suppression or Indulgence - by Submitted on Dec 28, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe mental consciousness likes to frame issues in terms of black and white determinations, as ‘either/or’ considerations. So we tend to swing from one extreme to the other. Either we try to indulge ourselves in fulfilling desires, in some cases with the idea that by satisfying the desire we will ...
Views: 560 - Two Options for the Seeker to Eliminate Desire - by Submitted on Dec 27, 2021 from santosh krinskyWhen the spiritual aspirant hears that he must eliminate desire from his consciousness, he frequently takes this as a message of ‘renunciation’ and thereby determines to live an isolated life free from the efforts involved in living in the world and interacting within the societal framework. ...
Views: 580 - The Source and Origin of Desire and the Mechanism of Its Action in the Being - by Submitted on Dec 26, 2021 from santosh krinskyAn individual experiences a craving, an urge, a desire and automatically tries to fulfill it through some action. If it is hunger or thirst, the individual wants to eat or drink. If it is a more complex desire, something that cannot simply be accomplished, the mind is brought into the picture to ...
Views: 633 - 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 - How Can I Understand True Spiritual Humility - by Submitted on Dec 24, 2021 from santosh krinskyIn the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna inquires how he can know an enlightened individual, whether by his talk, or the way he acts, or by some other external sign. Sri Krishna replies that it is not through external actions or signs that one can recognise the realised souls. The truth lies in their inner ...
Views: 614 - Spiritual Humility - by Submitted on Dec 23, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe quality of humility is important to keep the ego in check, but even here, the ego finds ways to create an artificial form of humility that actually reinforces the ego. Those following an inspiring leader, or treading a path that provides true spiritual experience may use their position to ...
Views: 698 - Three Steps (and Beyond) to Eliminate the Ego-Consciousness - by Submitted on Dec 22, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe ego-consciousness controls our viewpoint, how we respond to events and circumstances, and our relations with others. This is such an inherent and automatic framework of action, that we many times do not even notice or appreciate that it is there. When egoism becomes extreme, we can ‘see’ it, ...
Views: 563 - Wise Reminders From Dalai Lama - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2021 from Scott & Stephen PetulloDalai Lama is a title of the spiritual leader of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The current and 14th Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso, who lives in India as a refugee. Below are some words of wisdom by Dalai Lama. "There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called ...
Views: 599 - The Nature and Role of the Ego - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe development of the ego-consciousness is part of the evolutionary cycle of increasing manifestation of conscious awareness in Nature. As consciousness develops it moves from a generalized sense of existence to a more specific recognition of one’s own life and awareness. In animals we see this ...
Views: 542 - Identifying and Overcoming the Resistance of the Tamasic and Rajasic Egos - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe action of the three Gunas pervades and permeates all action including our response to obstacles, setbacks and concerns that arise during the practice of Yoga. When Tamas is predominant it sends out thoughts and ideas of weakness, failure and limitation. When Rajas is in the ascendent it ...
Views: 578 - A Recommended Method of Transition from Ego-Standpoint to Divine Standpoint - by Submitted on Dec 20, 2021 from santosh krinskyRejection of the calls and demands of the ego personality under the impulsion of the rajasic vital desires, can be considered the “negative” side or pole of the yogic practice. It is important, but there is another “positive” side or pole of the effort which involves re-tuning the being toward ...
Views: 649 - The Necessary Shift from Ego-Centric to God-Centric Consciousness in the Practice of Yoga - by Submitted on Dec 19, 2021 from santosh krinskyMy needs, my wants, my likes and dislikes, my feelings, my emotions, my ideas, my goals and aspirations — all of these things are the signs of the ego-consciousness at work, overcoming the law of inertia that says that a body at rest tends to stay at rest. All of humanity is immersed in the ...
Views: 532 - Epilepsy and Insanity Under Pressure of the Spiritual Quest for an Unprepared Seeker - by Submitted on Dec 17, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe divine Force that descends is not a theoretical event, but a real experience with consequences for the mind, life and body of the seeker. The seeker must be prepared mentally, vitally and physically for the action of this force in the being. The story of the unbaked jar, which cannot sustain ...
Views: 578 - Supraphysical Powers of Darkness and the Earthly Life - by Submitted on Dec 16, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe great religious traditions of the world virtually all relate a battle between Powers of Darkness and the Powers of Light. Regardless of the specific names and forms each tradition adopts, the similarities speak to a human experience of a supraphysical reality that impacts life on ...
Views: 507 - Three Main Causes of Madness, Psychological Collapse and Failure of the Spiritual Quest - by Submitted on Dec 16, 2021 from santosh krinskyThose who take up the spiritual quest face numerous difficulties along the way. Old habits and ways of seeing and acting are suddenly challenged, while at the same time energies long subdued or depressed may arise as the various chakras begin to open and pour out their energy. The various parts ...
Views: 629 - Which is more helpful? Clairvoyant or relationship expert? - by Submitted on Dec 15, 2021 from Pearls of WisdomIs it better to consult a relationship expert or psychic? The simple answer is that it depends on why you are consulting them. For some who very much into finding out about their marriage, relationship, ex etc then you might think that it is always best to consult the relationship expert rather ...
Views: 688 - Two Forms of Protection from Attacks of Hostile Forces - by Submitted on Dec 14, 2021 from santosh krinskyThere must be some form of inner connection or resonance for any vibration to succeed in impacting an individual. On the more general basis, the physical body represents a connection to the material world, so that actions which impact the material world may obviously impact the physical body. ...
Views: 565 - The Yogic Practitioner Should Not Obsess About Hostile Attacks - by Submitted on Dec 13, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe focus on attacks by hostile forces, and difficulties faced, easily engages the ego-personality in a form of vanity. It strengthens the hold of the ego, rather than loosening attachment to open the way for the shift to the divine standpoint. When it takes a rajasic form, the ego glorifies in ...
Views: 626 - Withstanding Attacks by Hostile Forces in the Practice of Yoga - by Submitted on Dec 12, 2021 from santosh krinskyIt is a common occurrence for practitioners of yoga to adopt a position on one extreme or the other. Either they get fixated on dealing with weaknesses, failures, and attacks by forces inimical to their yogic progress; or else, they take the position that there is no reality to these forces and ...
Views: 562 - The Link Between Inner Defects and External Attacks of Adverse Forces - by Submitted on Dec 11, 2021 from santosh krinskyIn order for any force or action to affect an individual, there must be something that links them together, attracting the energy that is external to the receiving station nexus of the individual body-life-mind complex. For purely material forces,, obviously, this connection is existence in the ...
Views: 609 - The Role and Rationale for the Existence of Hostile Forces - by Submitted on Dec 10, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe argument has been going on forever: “why does God permit evil to exist?” and “if the Divine constitutes everything, where do the hostile forces come from?” John Milton, in his Paradise Lost, posited ‘fallen angels’ who were thrown out of heaven as the cause of evil in the human world. ...
Views: 668 - How to Distinguish The Divine Force from the Habitual Action of the Lower as well as from the Hostile Forces - by Submitted on Dec 09, 2021 from santosh krinskyTrying to change human nature, the basic physical-vital-mental makeup that we accept as the predominant mode of being in the world today, is hard. The actions and reactions of the body, the senses, the vital energy, the organ systems, the emotional system, the hormonal responses, and the mental ...
Views: 541 - How the Practitioner Can Identify the Action of Hostile Forces - by Submitted on Dec 08, 2021 from santosh krinskyWhenever the discussion turns to unseen powers and forces, the rational intellect of the mind tends to shut down. That is one reason why there has been an argument, in the West, between Science and Religion. Yet, at some point, even the reasoning intellect needs to begin to reflect upon and ...
Views: 673 - The Example of Great Souls Facing the Difficulties and Issues of Human Spiritual Development - by Submitted on Dec 06, 2021 from santosh krinskyPeople tend to assume that great beings such as Buddha or Christ are exempt from the issues that the “rest of us” have to face in the world, and in the practice of spiritual sadhana. They simply assume that these great souls somehow fly above the ground-level obstacles that plague us. In fact, ...
Views: 555 - The Benefit of Shifting the Focus Toward the Higher Consciousness Rather than Focusing on the Struggles to Change the Lower Nature - by Submitted on Dec 06, 2021 from santosh krinskyWhatever we focus on intensely becomes stronger. If we focus entirely on the lower nature and its weaknesses, we actually are empowering them and giving them energy. In order to effectuate change in the lower nature, there must be an awareness of the areas that require change, of course, but not ...
Views: 563 - Adopting and Holding the Proper Psychological Poise for Accomplishment of the Objective of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Dec 06, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe objectives of the integral yoga cannot be looked at as a short-term ‘sprint’ to the goal, but as a longer-term ‘marathon’ where patience and endurance are of paramount importance. In order to achieve that long-term commitment without flagging of the effort, without discouragement and without ...
Views: 851 - The Power of Detachment to Effect Transformational Change in the Nature - by Submitted on Dec 03, 2021 from santosh krinskyThere is a vast difference between a mental acknowledgement of a concept or idea, and the actual realisation that underlies that concept. It is not an infrequent occurrence for a spiritual aspirant to hold a mental belief that is, nevertheless, not a full realisation. Spiritual realisation is ...
Views: 537 - The Separation of Purusha and Prakriti as a Powerful Tool for Shifting the Standpoint Out of the Ego-Personality and into the Divine Standpoint - by Submitted on Dec 02, 2021 from santosh krinskyAs long as we remain rooted in the ego-consciousness, we identify ourselves with the mind, life and body and their needs, demands, and habitual ways of responding to the challenges of existence. Within this framework, we are trapped by the definitions and boundaries that circumscribe our ...
Views: 517 - How to Tread the Sunlit Path of Yoga - by Submitted on Dec 01, 2021 from santosh krinskyThere are no exemptions from the issues, obstacles and difficulties that attend the work of bringing forth a new evolutionary principle and thereby impacting, changing and vastly reorganizing the existing status quo of the mind-life-body complex in the world. The issues must be addressed. The ...
Views: 837 - The Sunlit Path of Yogic Practice - by Submitted on Nov 30, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe integral yoga works to shift the standpoint from the ego to the divine consciousness. As that is accomplished, the focus on the ego-personality and its suffering and difficulties and the feelings it is experiencing are reduced or entirely removed. The being is absorbed in the divine ...
Views: 564 - Overcoming Tamasic Depression in the Practice of Yoga - by Submitted on Nov 29, 2021 from santosh krinskyIt is inevitable that as long as the human standpoint remains active, there will be periods of doubt, depression, dissatisfaction, weakness, and self-doubt. The action of the Gunas ensures there will be such periods when the enthusiasm and focus, energy and optimism depart and darkness tries to ...
Views: 535 - 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 - The Three Gunas and Spiritual Practice - by Submitted on Nov 28, 2021 from santosh krinskySpiritual aspirants, just as all others in the world, are impacted by the play of the three Gunas the qualities of Nature. These qualities are always in movement, constantly combining, jostling one another, becoming predominant, and then being suppressed as the next movement arises. We can see ...
Views: 582 - Two Ways to Meet the Resistance of the Nature to the Divine Force: the Way of the Self and the Way of the Psychic - by Submitted on Nov 28, 2021 from santosh krinskyWhen we reflect on the difficulty of changing basic human nature, and overcoming the general habits and patterns of universal nature expressing itself in us, we may easily recognise that none of the characteristic powers of mind, life or body will be sufficient to accomplish real and lasting ...
Views: 521 - The Role of the Inner Standpoint in Overcoming Depression and Ambition in the Practice of Yoga - by Submitted on Nov 28, 2021 from santosh krinskyMany people, not just those who practice yoga, experience times when they feel like their lives are meaningless, they are helpless to change, and the round of daily life, with its little wants and needs, and fulfillment of desires, is empty and distasteful. They experience in some cases a sense ...
Views: 551 - The Nature of the Resistance of Universal Nature to the Pressure of the Divine Force - by Submitted on Nov 24, 2021 from santosh krinskyWe tend to accept issues we are having in our lives as something personal to ourselves and thus, we struggle and either consider ourselves to be weak, or sinful, or otherwise unfit. This happens both generally and for those who practice yoga, and the result is, in many cases, some form of ...
Views: 494 - The Nature of the Resistance of the Mind-Life-Body to the Pressure of the Divine Force - by Submitted on Nov 23, 2021 from santosh krinskyEach aspect of the human instrumentality provides its own characteristic forms of resistance when a new, higher evolutionary force tries to engage them and redirect them along the lines it proposes. The underlying issues relate to the action of Tamas in the physical level, Rajas in the vital ...
Views: 550 - “Yoga Made Easy?” - by Submitted on Nov 22, 2021 from santosh krinskyThere is no way to achieve “instant” yogic realisation. There is no automatic technique, there is no pill one can take to suddenly become enlightened. The sages ensured that we understand the needed patience, persistence and efforts required in the various accounts of realised souls and how they ...
Views: 595 - Wise Reminders From Confucius - by Submitted on Nov 21, 2021 from Scott & Stephen PetulloConfucius, 551—479 BCE, was a Chinese philosopher and politician who was considered one of the most influential persons in human history. His teachings and philosophy are the foundation of East Asian society and culture. Below we list some of his words of wisdom. "Keep it simple and focus on ...
Views: 581 - The Bedrock of Resistance to Change in Human Nature - by Submitted on Nov 21, 2021 from santosh krinskyWhen we look at the working of Nature, we see ample evidence of inbred habits of action and reaction, which we call ‘instinct’ in the world of animals, and which we call the laws of physics in the material world. Consider how it is possible, for instance, that Monarch butterflies carry out a ...
Views: 600 - The Risks and Difficulties of Eliminating Lower Drives Through Purposeful Indulgence, Part 2 - by Submitted on Nov 20, 2021 from santosh krinskyDealing with deeply embedded drives of the subconscient and the lower vital through raising them up and indulging in them not only contains risks that one may fall into a deeper pattern of habitual response, but also can be a pretext for the vital enjoyment of the action with a veneer to ...
Views: 586 - The Process of Bringing About Change at the Subconscious Level of Our Being - by Submitted on Nov 20, 2021 from santosh krinskyAnyone who has taken up the practice of meditation is familiar with the attempt to quiet the mind and not pay attention to thoughts that arise during the process, letting them drift through without being followed or amplified in any way. One quickly realises during the process that we tend to ...
Views: 594 - The Inconscient and the Need for Its Transformation - by Submitted on Nov 20, 2021 from santosh krinskyWhen we look around at the world today, as well as at the thoughts, feelings and moods of people, both ourselves, and others, we find that Sri Aurobindo has perfectly described the situation. He defines this as the underlying Inconscient ‘bed-rock’ of being. The basic material resistance that is ...
Views: 534 - The Risks and Difficulties of Eliminating Lower Drives Through Purposeful Indulgence, Part 1 - by Submitted on Nov 17, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe idea of overcoming lower drives and desires of the vital, or that stem from the physical or the subconscient, through indulgence in a purposeful way is an enticing one, particularly to the vital nature, which can use this excuse to convince the mind to fulfill the myriad of powerful desires ...
Views: 583 - Understanding the Larger Being of Man and the Process of Transformation of the Subconscious - by Submitted on Nov 16, 2021 from santosh krinskyWestern psychoanalysis focused on a specific segment of the overall human psychological makeup, an area that deals with vestigial instincts and suppressed desires and urges. Obviously any opening and examination of this aspect is fraught with both concerns and dangers for the individual seeking ...
Views: 569 - Psychoanalysis and Yoga Do Not Mix - by Submitted on Nov 15, 2021 from santosh krinskyWhatever an individual focuses on takes on a large, central position and other aspects shift into the background. This is the secret not only of concentration of effort, but also on an understanding of the issues surrounding practices such as psychoanalysis in relation to a practitioner of yoga. ...
Views: 574 - The Necessity and Methods of Overcoming Inertia in the Physical Nature - by Submitted on Nov 13, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe quality of Tamas has as a major characteristic the sense of inertia. Nothing seems to be moving or advancing, there is little energy or will active to undertake action, there is an overpowering sense of helplessness, weakness, failure and dullness. Many times people confuse dullness or ...
Views: 521 - The Nature of the Subconscient - by Submitted on Nov 13, 2021 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo utilizes the term ‘subconscient’ to signify a level of consciousness that operates below the range within which the normal human awareness is operable. We may look at consciousness as a spectrum similar to what we know of the properties of the electro-magnetic spectrum or the color ...
Views: 575 - The Need and Process of Transforming the Subconscient - by Submitted on Nov 13, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe subconscient is the home, in the earth consciousness, of the quality of Tamas, just as the vital manifestation is the natural home of the quality of Rajas, and the mental level and above would be the natural home of the quality of Sattwa. These are all mixed up in the human being, interact ...
Views: 585 - Addressing the Methods of Change of the Physical Consciousness - by Submitted on Nov 10, 2021 from santosh krinskyBrute force has often been employed by aspirants seeking to overcome the ‘desires of the flesh’ and the obstructions of the physical consciousness to their spiritual focus and seeking. Extreme fasting, wearing of the cilice or sackcloth, arduous penances in the desert, self-flagellation, ...
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