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- The Gods and the Demons in Our Inner Psychology - by Submitted on Sep 29, 2022 from santosh krinskyWe find in the ancient Indian epic, Ramayana, an interesting sub-plot which changes the very complexion of what appears to be a battle between ‘good’ personified by Rama and his family, and ‘evil’ as personified by Ravana and his kin. As we delve deeper into the tale, we find that Ravana was ...
Views: 496 - The Influence of the Psychic Being on the Body, Life and Mind - by Submitted on Apr 29, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe action of the psychic being is subtle, more of an influence than a direct action in the lives of most people who are focused on fulfilling the needs and objectives set by their body-life-mind complex of their external being. The influence can be experienced and felt in the way the external ...
Views: 496 - The Subconscient Basis of Our Individual Being, Part 4 - by Submitted on Sep 03, 2022 from santosh krinskyAs the individual works to understand the wellsprings of the motives, impulses and forces that rise up through his being in the subconscient and push him into action, a subtler understanding begins to develop. The need to distinguish between the inherited habits and embedded atavistic movements, ...
Views: 495 - The Benefit of Obstacles and Difficulties for the Development of Conscious Awareness - by Submitted on Nov 17, 2022 from santosh krinskyIt is a quality of human nature. When things are going well, we are happy and contented, we tend not to make extraordinary efforts or focus on change. We feel like things are where they should be in our lives, and we move into ‘enjoyment mode’ rather than ‘change mode’. In some cases, we believe ...
Views: 494 - 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 - What Is the Purpose? Why Am I Alive? Is There a Meaning to Life? - by Submitted on Dec 09, 2022 from santosh krinskyModern day civilisation suffers from an epidemic of ’emptiness’, a feeling that life has no meaning or purpose. This leads to various coping mechanisms such as dissipation through use of drugs or alcohol, or through consumption of mindless entertainment. For those who do not choose these ...
Views: 494 - Gaining Mental Understanding Through Quieting and Widening the Mental Consciousness - by Submitted on Oct 11, 2022 from santosh krinskyMany people, over the years, have told me that reading Sri Aurobindo’s writings is difficult due to the complexity and wideness of the concepts he presents. I have heard, or experienced, similar issues reading Kant, Leibnitz, Kierkegaard, Sartre, Joyce and others. For those engaged in technical ...
Views: 493 - How to Cultivate and Utilize the Faculty of Intuition: Part 2 - by Submitted on Jan 09, 2024 from santosh krinskyAs we have noted, there are some who believe that intuition is simply a very fast reasoning process that moves directly to a determination. This is clearly not intuition as the Mother explains below. It is a separate mental process that still follows the laws of the mental plane in its ...
Views: 493 - The Process of Effectuating Real Change in Human Nature - by Submitted on Sep 18, 2022 from santosh krinskyHonest observation without mental bias is the first step the Mother outlines. This is accomplished by setting up the ideal as a screen or filter against which to compare each action. Those that do not compare entirely favorably represent things that can be identified as subjects for the change ...
Views: 493 - Widening the Consciousness Through Identification with Galactic Space - by Submitted on Oct 09, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe principle Patanjali set forth for the practice of samyajma provided that one would be identified with and gain complete knowledge with the object of the practice of concentration. Those who choose to identify with the vast galactic panorama of stars and space would find their consciousness ...
Views: 493 - Vedic Seers Describe the Sevenfold Ignorance and the Sevenfold Knowledge - by Submitted on Apr 11, 2023 from santosh krinskyAs we take up the next chapter in the Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo cites, in the headnotes, some revealing passages from the Rig Veda and the Upanishads to indicate the 7 types of Ignorance that needs to be overcome, and to point out the 7 forms of Knowledge required to achieve realisation. Before ...
Views: 492 - Escaping the Little Ego-Consciousness Through Concentration on Infinite Space and Eternal Time - by Submitted on Oct 14, 2022 from santosh krinskyWe are usually so busy focusing on the day to day lives we are living that we rarely take the time to reflect on the larger significance of the universal manifestation and what role we, as individuals play in this development. The concept of maya, the cosmic illusion, is based on our ...
Views: 491 - The Case for the Rare Instance of an Ongoing Physical, Vital or Mental Formation Surviving the Death of the Individual - by Submitted on May 07, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe have no difficulty seeing and understanding that an individual can create a legacy in the physical world we inhabit, as we see the evidence everywhere around us in the form of buildings, enterprises, religious movements, mental developments and conceptualization, and artistic creations, not ...
Views: 491 - Two Steps to Spiritual Experience - by Submitted on Sep 26, 2022 from santosh krinskySpiritual experience takes ‘knowing about’ something to ‘knowing’ it. What we learn from books, what we learn in school, the facts we memorize, the procedures we learn about, are all based in the intellect and while they may open the mind to new things, do not represent actual experience. The ...
Views: 491 - Overcoming the Darkness and Depression When the Psychic Being Recedes - by Submitted on Sep 07, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe distinction between the state of consciousness with the psychic being active and leading, versus that where it has receded and the ego-personality of the surface being is predominant, provides a very clear method for the seeker to know what is taking place internally. By adopting the ...
Views: 490 - The Necessity for Quietude of the Vital Nature - by Submitted on Feb 08, 2023 from santosh krinskyThere can be no permanent settlement of peace in the mind if the vital nature has not also attained quiet and peace. Many people take this as a reason to abandon active life and involvement in society and the world-at-large; yet, this is not a solution. The vital nature is very much driven by ...
Views: 490 - Hints for the Spiritual Practitioner Seeking to Eliminate the Sex Impulse - by Submitted on Jan 12, 2022 from santosh krinskyWe have learned quite a bit about the sexual impulse. Young children are basically asexual, and it is only with the coming of puberty and the flooding of mood-creating chemicals in the system (hormones), that we become susceptible to responding to the sexual energy when it arises. Not everything ...
Views: 489 - Overcoming Hopelessness and Depression by Tuning the Consciousness Towards the Light - by Submitted on Oct 16, 2022 from santosh krinskyMany people, including those who are treading a spiritual path, feel depressed and hopeless when they see all the negativity, violence, and destruction taking place in the world around us. The mass media focuses on, and emphasizes, all this negativity, with the saying ‘if it bleeds, it leads’. ...
Views: 489 - The Influence of the Psychic Being’s Peace and Calm Can Overcome the Disturbances of Mind, Life and Body - by Submitted on May 02, 2022 from santosh krinskyIf we observe how we tend to respond to provocations from outside, things, events or people who impact our lives, either mentally, emotionally, vitally or physically, we see that the first tendency is to internalize the provocation with a pattern of vibration at one or another level of our ...
Views: 489 - The Need for Constant, Steady and Flexible Progress on the Yogic Path - by Submitted on Jul 26, 2022 from santosh krinskyAt certain stages along the way, a particular technique or method of standpoint may be helpful to the growth of the spiritual consciousness or the implementation of that consciousness in the outer being and life. These same methods, however, can lead to stagnation if practiced without heed to ...
Views: 489 - The Need to Master the Sex Impulse for the Sadhak of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Jan 09, 2022 from santosh krinskyReligious and spiritual paths throughout the world have recognised the need to gain control over the sex impulse. Similarly societies have recognised that in many cases the sex impulse can create disruption in the orderly processes of the society. Traditionally, certain mores or rules of conduct ...
Views: 489 - Westerners and Indian Yoga, Part 3: Are There Advantages to an Indian Birth for the Practice of Yoga? - by Submitted on Mar 30, 2022 from santosh krinskyIf we look at the qualities required for bringing about the emergence of the psychic being, the development of a devotional attitude, and support for the idea of focusing on the Eternal through subordination or even abandonment of the relations of the outer life, it is clear that India has ...
Views: 489 - Attaining Peace in the Being - by Submitted on Oct 21, 2022 from santosh krinskyA central key to attaining peace lies in achieving the poise of non-attachment. Non-attachment is sometimes confused with avoidance of action, or some kind of renunciation. But non-attachment can develop even among those who are active in the world. King Janaka was known as being non-attached ...
Views: 488 - Gaining the Support of the Vital Being for the Sadhana Through the Joy of Creative Activity - by Submitted on Mar 21, 2022 from santosh krinskyOne of the issues that every spiritual seeker eventually faces is what to do about the vital nature. The vital being is an essential element of life on earth. Normally however it is distracted with its needs and desires, the seeking for pleasure and enjoyment, the avoidance of pain and ...
Views: 488 - The Aspiration Must Be Kept Alive and Constant - by Submitted on Dec 19, 2022 from santosh krinskyChanging human nature is a process of time and effort and is therefore subject to periods of waxing and waning of effort. Human beings tend to relax and enjoy their lives when all things are going well. Thus, it is primarily in times of difficulty and stress when we remember to focus on the need ...
Views: 488 - Widening the Consciousness: Practical Exercises and Benefits - by Submitted on Oct 10, 2022 from santosh krinskyIf we observe what happens to our inner psychology when we experience physical pain, we will see that we mostly tighten ourselves up, tensing the body, focusing intently on the experience of the bodily pain. By doing so, we actually intensify the pain experience through this focus and it takes ...
Views: 488 - The Light and the Shadow in Each Individual Being - by Submitted on Sep 30, 2022 from santosh krinskyIt is easy to see the failings of others, while overlooking the issues within oneself. Jesus in his famous Sermon on the Mount, recounted in the New Testament of the Bible, exhorted his followers to not judge others but to look within, and noted ‘And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy ...
Views: 487 - Three Primary Paths of Inner Growth and Spiritual Development - by Submitted on Nov 11, 2022 from santosh krinskyEach individual has a unique way of relating to and developing his spiritual aspiration. Those who are more intellectually inclined may find that they naturally incline towards what is known as the yoga of knowledge. Those who have a nature more inclined to devotion and emotional expression may ...
Views: 487 - Westerners and Indian Yoga, Part 4: Obstacles Faced by Westerners and the Soul’s Aspiration to Overcome Them in the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Mar 31, 2022 from santosh krinskyAll human beings, regardless of whether they are born in the West, the East, or elsewhere, find the challenges of taking up yoga to be daunting and requiring of them unstinting efforts to understand the obstacles, and identify and implement ways to overcome them. With its long history of support ...
Views: 487 - Accessing the Inner Subliminal Consciousness - by Submitted on Sep 16, 2023 from santosh krinskyThe Upanishads describe 4 states of consciousness, the waking, the dream, the sleep and the state beyond these 3. Sri Aurobindo points out that these are meant to symbolically represent the state of awareness in the outer world (waking), the state of awareness in the subliminal world (dream), ...
Views: 486 - Following the Right Path to Divine Realisation - by Submitted on Nov 13, 2022 from santosh krinskyWe very easily fall into the mistaken idea that the path we follow is the best way to approach the Divine or achieve spiritual realisation and that other paths are either less effective or do not provide the complete liberation from the ego-personality. We also tend to accept the idea that ...
Views: 485 - Light and Shadow - by Submitted on Mar 23, 2023 from santosh krinskyYin and Yang, dualities that are inextricably intertwined with one another, that continue to play into one another and which contain an element of the opposite quality within themselves. We live in a world characterized by duality and when we examine closely we find that we cannot have light ...
Views: 484 - Living in the Consciousness of the Eternal Provides an Answer to Our Hurried and Dissatisfied Existence - by Submitted on Jul 09, 2022 from santosh krinskyThere is a strong human potential movement that counsels ‘mindfulness’ by living in the present, and not worrying about or identifying with the past, and not imaging or creating images about the future in one’s mind. This movement has an underlying truth associated with it, as dwelling on either ...
Views: 484 - Organising One’s Life Around the Ideal - by Submitted on Sep 17, 2022 from santosh krinskyObservation and reflection eventually can lead to focus of the life and attention to achieve a specific aspiration. The process of reviewing with care in the light of the higher aspiration allows the individual to then choose which things to do, and which things to avoid, sculpting, if you will, ...
Views: 484 - The Bhagavad Gita and the Path of Karma Yoga - by Submitted on Feb 27, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhen we delve into the yoga of works, the Bhagavad Gita immediately comes to mind as a primary text. The Gita explores the questions of what constitutes a yogic attitude in action and compares it to the normal standpoint about work. The major difference lies in the inner standpoint and attitude ...
Views: 484 - The Meaning of True and Complete Sincerity in the Spiritual Path - by Submitted on Dec 24, 2022 from santosh krinskyJust about every individual, including those practicing a spiritual discipline of some sort, creates an image of himself that he then projects out into the world. This image is something of a stylized and idealized version of himself that attempts to present the highest and best of his ...
Views: 484 - All Knowledge Is Within, Awaiting the Time and Circumstance to Manifest in Our External Being - by Submitted on Dec 30, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe ancient Greek philosopher Plato described the method of teaching utilized by Socrates, known today as the “Socratic method”. Socrates understood that education was not the process of stuffing knowledge into an individual, but rather, as the root of the word ‘education’ implies, a drawing out ...
Views: 483 - General Limitations and Options for Methods and Applications for Spiritual Development - by Submitted on Jan 03, 2023 from santosh krinskyIn any technical field, there are both a general statement of goals and principles, as well as specific steps that should be applied to achieve those results. In many endeavours, particularly those involved in dealing with the physical world and the science that operates in that world, the ...
Views: 483 - The Concept of Spiritual Purity in the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Jan 21, 2023 from santosh krinskyFor most people, purity is connected with a moral precept, and for most, this has eventually been related to the question of sexual relations. The question of chastity, and withholding of sexual activity until the socially sanctioned relationship of marriage has been put in place, holds a ...
Views: 483 - The Difficulty in the Process Required to “Know Thyself” - by Submitted on Sep 12, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe vital nature is so deeply intertwined with the mental nature in the current state of human development, and has such a force of desire that it tries to satisfy, that, for most individuals, it is very hard to take an objective view about the thoughts, feelings, actions, reactions, emotions or ...
Views: 483 - The External Being and the Inner Being - by Submitted on Apr 26, 2023 from santosh krinskyMost people identify closely with their active external personality, and as a result, they consider that to be the extent of their existence. They leave on the surface, interact with others, family, friends, acquaintances, associates and other members of society, and respond to the outer ...
Views: 483 - The Complementary Aspects of Aspiration and Prayer - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2022 from santosh krinskyJust as there is a debate between science and religion, there is a corollary argument that encompasses aspiration versus prayer. Aspiration for growth, development, knowledge, progress, expansion is acceptable to those in the “science” camp. Prayer is relegated by these individuals to the ...
Views: 482 - Visiting the Symbolic Transcription of One’s Inner Being As Displayed to the Conscious Awareness - by Submitted on Sep 19, 2022 from santosh krinskyFor those who are anchored in their outer external awareness of the world and of themselves, there is no understanding or acceptance of the reality of inner occult states of awareness. Thus, they deny the reality of the inner experiences, until perhaps they happen to have a near death ...
Views: 482 - The Nature and Power of Sincerity in the Practice of Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Dec 15, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhat exactly is the meaning of ‘sincerity’ in the context of the integral yoga, and what makes it so essential to the successful practice of this yoga? For most people, sincerity is a quality defined by adherence to a specific idea or belief and a direct translation of that belief into the ...
Views: 481 - Impatience and the Practice of Yoga - by Submitted on Jan 14, 2023 from santosh krinskyImpatience is endemic to modern day society. We expect everything immediately. If it does not come, we exhibit frustration, annoyance, anger and a disturbed energy which impacts the the body, the life-energy, the nervous envelope and the mental state. Impatience, therefore, creates an energetic ...
Views: 480 - The Essential Role of the Psychic Being in the Process of Vital Transformation - by Submitted on Jul 28, 2022 from santosh krinskyTransformation of the vital nature in man is a key and essential part of the transformation that must come with the evolution of the next stage of consciousness. Past yogic paths did not focus to any great degree, if at all, on transformation of the external being and life in the world; rather, ...
Views: 479 - How to Cultivate and Utilize the Faculty of Intuition: Part 1 - by Submitted on Jan 07, 2024 from santosh krinskyWe tend to treat intuition as something amorphous and difficult to define. We want to somehow fit it into the framework of a mental process, possibly one that is very fast, but nevertheless works through the logical steps to arrive from a set of facts to a decision. At the same time, we try to ...
Views: 478 - The Power of Concentration is the Key to Realization in All Fields of Life - by Submitted on Jan 28, 2023 from santosh krinskyEvery major accomplishment in human life involves some form of concentration. We live in a modern world that systematically distracts and disperses the mind, thus making it more difficult to achieve a state of concentration. Cell phones, internet surfing, music, flashing lights, entertainment, ...
Views: 478 - Causes and Avoidance of Accidents - by Submitted on Jul 12, 2023 from santosh krinskyAn 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 - Words of Wisdom— Abigail Adams - by Submitted on Jan 16, 2023 from Scott & Stephen PetulloAbigail Adams (November 22, 1744 – October 28, 1818) was the spouse and close advisor of John Adams. She was the first second lady of the United States, second first lady of the United States, and the mother of the sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams. She was a ...
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