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- Face and Conquer the Difficulties in This Life and in This Body - by Submitted on Dec 15, 2025 from santosh krinskyA human birth is prized as it is the gateway to evoution and development. In the Indian tradition, even the gods need to take a human birth if they want to achieve any new form of development or progress. The gods reside normally in a static world which does not have the impetus for ...
Views: 1 - Suicide Does Not Provide an Escape From the Difficulties of Life or of Spiritual Development - by Submitted on Dec 14, 2025 from santosh krinskyAn individual reaches an absolute low point in his life. He may be suffering under intense grief, he may have made mistakes that led to catastrophic consequences, he may be faced with exposure and embarassment for actions he has undertaken, he may be in intense pain and suffering from a terminal ...
Views: 2 - Strength and Courage Are Needed to Face the Difficulties of the Spiritual Path - by Submitted on Dec 13, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhen an individual withdraws from most external activities to focus on spiritual sadhana, people tend to interpret this as a sign of weakness or failure in the outer life. They believe the seeker could not ‘make it’ in the competition in the external world and therefore retreated from it so he ...
Views: 3 - Changing Each Part of Human Nature Through the Progressive Action of the Divine Shakti - by Submitted on Dec 12, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe 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: 4 - 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: 5 - The Action of the Higher Force As It Descends Into the Present Formulation of the Mind, Life and Body - by Submitted on Dec 10, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhen the higher spiritual forces begun to enter the being through any kind of opening, they interact with the existing framework of the body-life-mind. Any time energy is introduced into a system, it activates the existing patterns of response, so that the mind begins to create its thoughts and ...
Views: 6 - Hostile Forces, the Law of Attraction and Progress in Spiritual Development - by Submitted on Dec 09, 2025 from santosh krinskyThere are powers at work in the world that have a vested interest in maintaining the current status. They have control, they have power, they can exult in their predominance. They do not want to see their power or influence wane or disappear. On the contrary, they may seek further control and ...
Views: 7 - The Different Processes for Change of the Vital Nature and the Psychic Being - by Submitted on Dec 08, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe vital nature, under the influence of the Guna of Rajas, tends to create drama. Struggle, disruption, aggressive responses are all a part of this vital play. One of the manifestations of this drama is to raise the temperature about any resistance, obstacle, delay etc. that the individual ...
Views: 8 - Liberating the Consciousness from Imprisonment in the Physical Body - by Submitted on Dec 07, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhen we reflect on our normal state of conscious awareness, we recognise a primary seat of awareness in the mind, while also finding that we respond to impulses that originate in the other chakras, subtle energy centres, from the base of the spine to the crown of the head. Yogic science has long ...
Views: 9 - Understanding Experience of a Shift from the External to the Inward Consciousness - by Submitted on Dec 06, 2025 from santosh krinskyAs the seeker begins to go inwards in his awareness, theare are innumerable new experiences that take place. He generally is not able to determine exactly what they mean. In this case, the guidance of an experienced practitioner or of a Guru can be of immense assistance. If a seeker is ...
Views: 9 - Awareness and True Discrimination of Forces Are Essential for the Spiritual Seeker to Avoid Distractions and Deviations from the Path - by Submitted on Dec 05, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhen a spiritual seeker begins to appreciate the forces at work in the world that try to influence and manipulate his behaviour, one of the first reactions tends to be to try to close oneself off, wall oneself off, not take cognizance of these forces. This is the power of the anchorite ...
Views: 11 - The Right Attitude Turns Difficulties Into Opportunities for the Spiritual Aspirant - by Submitted on Dec 04, 2025 from santosh krinskyParticularly (but not exclusively) in the beginning of the spiritual sadhana, the seeker has to find a way to navigate through the countless obstacles, resistances and difficulties that arise as he tries to transition from a focus on the external responses of the ego-personality and the embedded ...
Views: 11 - Success in Yoga Despite Negative Suggestions of Unfitness or Impossibility - by Submitted on Dec 04, 2025 from santosh krinskyAs the three Gunas continue to rotate their action in the external personality, there are times when Rajas presides and there is potentially a sense of ambition and with it, a sustained effort. When Tamas presides, however, there is a tendency to fall into despondency or depression, seeing ...
Views: 12 - “Ego Was the Helper, Ego Is the Bar” - by Submitted on Dec 02, 2025 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo’s famous aphorism, cited in the headline above, describes the issue that spiritual aspirants have to resolve as they take up the practice of Yoga. Human individuality was developed to create an apparently independent nexus of observation and action, thus providing a platform for ...
Views: 13 - Is salvation almost impossible without a guru? - by Submitted on Dec 01, 2025 from Dada BhagwanIt is true that one must have a Guru! Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan, the Enlightened being, explains: The Importance of a Guru If you make a mistake, you need someone to tell you so. A Guru is someone who shows you the path. Without a Guru, man cannot progress! The Definition of a ...
Views: 15 - Why a Spiritual Seeker Should Not Just ‘Go With the Flow’ - by Submitted on Dec 01, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe frequently hear the advice that we could have much more peace and satisfaction in our lives if we were not always trying to ‘manage’ things. We are encouraged to just ‘go with the flow’. Even spiritual seekers are frequently asked to let the ‘force’ work without interference from our mind or ...
Views: 13 - Vital Impatience and a Hurried Effort Are Obstacles to the Transformation of the Human Instrument - by Submitted on Nov 30, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe vital ego is impatient. It wants to keep pressing on regardless of the impact on the body or the mind, or even its own native energy. It wants to get somewhere and begrudges the journey and the time and the waypoints along the path. It believes that haste will achieve the goal sooner, while ...
Views: 15 - Dealing With Periods of Dissipation and Distraction in the Spiritual Sadhana - by Submitted on Nov 29, 2025 from santosh krinskySpiritual aspirants tend to have periods of concentration, intense experiences, positive forward movement centered around our deepest aspirations, only to find that after some time the energy withdraws, or they sink back into old habits or comfortable patterns of the past. They may look for ...
Views: 15 - Understanding Fluctuations in the Force of the Spiritual Sadhana - by Submitted on Nov 28, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe spiritual seeker tends to struggle with the constant recurrence of old thoughts, feelings, reactions and desires. He is also constantly confronted by changes in his energy levels and focus. Much of this is due to the underlying and deeply embedded energies that he has inherited as part of ...
Views: 16 - Addressing Obstacles, Weaknesses and Limitations Through the Connection with the Divine Power - by Submitted on Nov 27, 2025 from santosh krinskyThere are so many obstacles and difficulties that confront the spiritual seeker, precisely because the work of transforming human nature in each element involves dealing with endless numbers of embedded habits, instincts, trained responses, etc. It is virtually a constant effort to address each ...
Views: 18 - Ascent and Integration Define Spiritual Progress for the Seeker - by Submitted on Nov 25, 2025 from santosh krinskyTransforming human nature does not happen overnight. There are thus periods when the spiritual force is actively experienced and descending into the being; and then, there are other periods where it needs to adjust the responses of the mind, the life energy and the physical body to both hold and ...
Views: 19 - The Practitioner of the Integral Yoga Will Face Difficulties, Obstructions and Challenges With the Support of the Divine Force to Meet Them and Overcome Them - by Submitted on Nov 24, 2025 from santosh krinskyIn Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol, Sri Aurobindo poses the question: ‘How shall he cure the ills he never felt’, in reference to the world redeemer’s task. There is a truth here that impacts every disciple and devotee of the integral yoga. Sri Aurobnido has set the objective as the ...
Views: 21 - The Value of the Witness Consciousness in the Yogic Endeavour - by Submitted on Nov 23, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe witness consciousness is an extremely useful mode for the seeker to adopt in any attempt to overcome the limitations and deformations of the external nature, whether to try to attain liberation and release from the world, or, as Sri Aurobindo suggests, to work toward the eventual divinsation ...
Views: 21 - The True Foundation of the Yoga - by Submitted on Nov 22, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe are generally so tied to our external ego-personality that we identify with it as what we consider to be our ‘self’. We then refer to this body-life-mind complex as our reality and we say that we ‘have a soul’. The reality is far different. The reality is that the soul, the psychic being, ...
Views: 21 - Standing Back from the Reactions of the External Nature - by Submitted on Nov 21, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe action of the three Gunas rules our external nature. Rajas active in the vital being tends to fixate on the fulfillment and satisfaction of desires of whatever kind. Desires, however, cannot ever be fully satisfied as the fulfillment of a desire simply increases the vital’s push for more. A ...
Views: 21 - 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: 22 - The Needed Effort to Resolve the Deformations of the Lower Vital Nature - by Submitted on Nov 19, 2025 from santosh krinskyIn his application of yoga as applied psychology, Sri Aurobindo identifies a number of different planes and parts of the being that make up the human individual. There are various levels of mind, vital being and physical being. Each level carries out specific types of functions and responds to ...
Views: 23 - The Spiritual Seeker Should Focus on the Aspiration and Recognize Weaknesses Without Obsessing About Them - by Submitted on Nov 19, 2025 from santosh krinskyObsessing about failures, weaknesses, lapses, and obstructions can turn into a full-time occupation! All of human nature has to be taken up and modified, transformed or outright rejected for the next evolutionary manifestation to fully take up its role in the life of the planet. All seekers ...
Views: 27 - Methods for Achieving a Silent Mind During Meditation - by Submitted on Nov 17, 2025 from santosh krinskyBring the mind to a state of quiescence is essential for the practice of meditation. Once an individual is able to achieve this state during meditation, it is a next step to carry that silent mind into the external life. People frequently ask how it is possible to have a silent nind at any time ...
Views: 25 - The Difficulty and Time Required for the Transformation of the Nature - by Submitted on Nov 16, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe make ‘new year’s resolutions’ with the idea that we will start the new year with a fresh dedication to undertaking some kind of change to our lives. This may be a mental change, such as a willingness to listen and try to truly understand what others say and think rather than jumping in our ...
Views: 27 - Identifying and Addressing Obstacles Through Inner Development for Spiritual Progress - by Submitted on Nov 15, 2025 from santosh krinskyIt is a somewhat natural tendency in human nature to blame others, or circumstances, or fate, when obstacles arise. We tend to bemoan how ‘unfair’ life can be. We see conspiracies and power structures that are preventing us from accomplishing what it is that we believe we are meant to ...
Views: 27 - Patience, Perseverance and Firm Faith Are Needed Qualities on the Long Road of Yoga - by Submitted on Nov 14, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe seeker gets glimpses of spiritual opening, experiences of a vastness and a deep silence when the mind falls utterly still. He may get a vision of forces and powers that act in the world and in himself. He may get the sense that he is crossing a threshold into a space where he no longer ...
Views: 28 - The Main Conditions of Preparation for the Supramental Change - by Submitted on Nov 14, 2025 from santosh krinskyIn a brief compass, Sri Aurobindo outlines the attitude to be assumed and the nature of the work to be done to prepare the being for the consummation of the path of the integral Yoga. Sri Aurobindo writes: "Get the psychic being in front and keep it there, putting its power on the mind, vital ...
Views: 29 - How can one overcome karma according to Hindu philosophy and avoid or rectify bad karma in this life? - by Submitted on Nov 13, 2025 from Dada BhagwanThe science of karma It is simply the science of cause & effect Karmas are the actions (causes) and the fruits of karma are its reactions (effects). The rules of karma are such that when you create karma, the resultant effect comes naturally and automatically. The resultant effect is ...
Views: 32 - Self-Surrender in Principle and Self-Surrender in Detail - by Submitted on Nov 12, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhen the seeker takes up the path of yoga and surrender of the ego-consciousness to the Divine, he identifies himself with the psychic being, the soul entity, in his being and makes the offering from that part of his being. What is frequently not recognised however is that the human being is ...
Views: 29 - “Are We There Yet?” - by Submitted on Nov 11, 2025 from santosh krinskyJust about anyone who has experienced a long trip with young children will relate to the question ‘Are We There Yet?’. Ten minutes into the journey, and every 5 or 10 minutes thereafter, the children ask if we are at the destination yet. They have no realistic sense of time, distance or process. ...
Views: 26 - Finding the Poise of the Consciousness Needed for the Practice of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Nov 10, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe spiritual seeker, starting from the ego-consciousness, wants to identify progress and success in the sadhana. The operation of the 3 Gunas, the qualities of Nature, impact the seeker’s view and orientation towards the process. There is a distinct difference between a psychic aspiration and ...
Views: 27 - The Effort of the Spiritual Seeker in Distinguishing the Action of the Divine Force from the Promptings of the Ego - by Submitted on Nov 08, 2025 from santosh krinskyA constant concern for spiritual aspirants is to distinguish the divine Will from their own ego-personality’s desires or ambitions. The vital nature has the uncanny ability to convince the mind that what it desires is actually something that can and should be justified, and once the mind adheres ...
Views: 32 - Overcoming Self-Doubt and Fear of Incapacity in the Spiritual Endeavour - by Submitted on Nov 07, 2025 from santosh krinskySpiritual seekers throughout the ages have been confronted with internal anguish about whether they actually have the capacity and ability to succeed in their spiritual endeavour. They go through periods of enthusiasm and joy as they feel the spiritual force working in them, bringing them ...
Views: 27 - The Psychic Being Senses the Divine Presence and Guidance - by Submitted on Nov 06, 2025 from santosh krinskyEverything we experience is sensed or felt by some developed capacity or part of the being. Vibrations that occur within the ranges of the electro-magnetic spectrum that human beings can perceive are identified as light, colors, sound, etc. We have senses of taste, touch and smell, similarly ...
Views: 30 - The Focus Needed for Success in the Practice of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Nov 05, 2025 from santosh krinskyEvery path of Yoga has its own methodologies and expected results, just as every discipline or focus in the external activities have their own methodologies and expected results. An individual can train for sports, for proficiency in a particular science, or even for learning skills in social ...
Views: 30 - The Spiritual Aspirant’s Opening to the Action of the Spiritual Force - by Submitted on Nov 04, 2025 from santosh krinskyThere are many things in the world that we cannot directly observe with our senses, yet which we otherwise believe to be real, based on the noticeable and palpable effects they have. We cannot ‘see’ gravity, but we feel its effects. Similarly, we cannot ‘see’ electricity, but we not only can ...
Views: 28 - The Principle Thing in the Practice of Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Nov 03, 2025 from santosh krinskyIn his book The Mother, Sri Aurobindo provides a detailed roadmap for understanding the relatively simple idea that one must have the ‘will to overcome all attachments’, etc. In order to do this, we need to be able to appreciate what is meant by ‘attachments’. Most people would associate this ...
Views: 30 - The Flame of Aspiration, the Mystic Fire - by Submitted on Nov 02, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe Rig Veda has a large number of hymns to Agni, the mystic fire. Sri Aurobindo translated and commented on the hymns to Agni in his book, Hymns to the Mystic Fire. The importance of the mystic fire, which we may call the flame of aspiration for the spiritual seeker is evidenced by both the ...
Views: 31 - The Secret of Success in Spiritual Sadhana Is to Maintain the Aspiration and Focus and Never Give Up - by Submitted on Nov 01, 2025 from santosh krinskyFailure turns out to be the stepping stone to success. We tend to become obsessed with being ‘perfect’ in the spiritual sadhana. We identify things we should be thinking, things we should be doing, ways we should be acting and responding to situations, and create for ourselves a set of rules or ...
Views: 31 - Personal Effort and Divine Action in the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Oct 31, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhen we reflect on the action of the Divine Force, and its ability to impact the individual and transform aspects of his life, we are frequently met with the skepticism of those who do not have the experience. How can one explain colors to a person who is blind from birth? How can music be ...
Views: 31 - Personal Effort in Service of the Divine Is an Initial Step Towards Complete Shift to the Divine Standpoint - by Submitted on Oct 30, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe normal human action is based in the ego-consciousness. We act as if we are fully independent, making our own decisions based on our own criteria, needs and concerns. We treat ourselves as something of a self-standing actor, working to survive in a somewhat hostile world and environment, ...
Views: 38 - People say karma is linked to reincarnation, but research has found no connection. Why? - by Submitted on Oct 30, 2025 from Dada BhagwanThe reason why researchers have not discovered the connection between rebirth and karma are: - They have not found a spiritual teacher who can give them the enlightened vision which brings closure and validation to their research. - They too are trapped in this cycle of karma and ...
Views: 34 - Personal Effort Needed in Spiritual Practice and the Action of the Divine Force - by Submitted on Oct 29, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe spiritual seeker starts out from the standpoint of the human individual, the ego-consciousness. The process of spiritual development involves a systematic shift of the standpoint to the divine standpoint. This process does not occur overnight, and does not proceed ‘automatically’ but ...
Views: 35 - The Cure for the Spiritual Aspirant for Doubt, Guilt, Feelings of Unsuitability and Despair - by Submitted on Oct 28, 2025 from santosh krinskyAs long as we base ourselves in the individual personal identity, what we term the ‘ego-consciousness’ we are subject to mistakes, failures, indiscretions, and other situations where we do not meet our own internal concept of what we ‘should’ do. Most of this is based on the background and ...
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