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- The Nature and Power of Sincerity in the Practice of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on May 13, 2021 from santosh krinskyFor spiritual practices that seek a solution outside the life in the world, it is possible to try to “cut the knot” and simply abandon, or at least minimize, the active engagement of mind, life and body in the world. For a spiritual practice such as the integral yoga, however, which aims at a ...
Views: 1 - 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: 1 - The Power of a Calm Mind - by Submitted on May 13, 2021 from santosh krinskyIf we observe our mental space for some time, such as when we sit for meditation, the first thing to be noticed is that the mind tends to jump around from one thought, idea or perception to another, seemingly randomly and impacted by sensory data coming to us through our sense organs. Some call ...
Views: 1 - Understanding the Quality of Sincerity in the Practice of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on May 10, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe general definition of sincerity as understood in society is the quality of unifying one’s intention with one’s words or actions. This definition is a good starting point for understanding sincerity in the yogic sense. The major difference between the two is the level of inward review and ...
Views: 3 - Understanding the Nature and Role of Spiritual Experiences in the Yogic Process - by Submitted on May 09, 2021 from santosh krinskyWe bring to the spiritual quest all kinds of mental ideas, emotional expectations and preconceived notions about what is supposed to happen, how it is supposed to happen and what it signifies. All of these things, however, are based in the mind-life-body complex and act as limiting factors in ...
Views: 3 - Realisations in the Development of the Yogic Sadhana - by Submitted on May 08, 2021 from santosh krinskyMany who take up the practice of yogic sadhana find that they receive some signs of encouragement either prior to starting consciously down the path, through some kind of experience that opens other dimensions and opportunities for growth for them, or through some spiritual experiences in the ...
Views: 4 - Patience and Perseverance Are Need for the Practice of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on May 07, 2021 from santosh krinskyWe live in an age that expects instant success, immediate gratification and results that occur with a minimum of effort. It is difficult, therefore, to appreciate that the spiritual path, whether the integral yoga, or any other path that assumes a change to human nature or a redirection of the ...
Views: 5 - The Nature and Action of Faith in the Spiritual Path - by Submitted on May 06, 2021 from santosh krinskyOne of the great reported examples of faith in the spiritual path is the inspiring story of Tibet’s great yogi, Milarepa. Briefly, his family was cheated out of their inheritance when his father died, and put into a condition of extreme suffering. He left to learn Black Magic to take his revenge ...
Views: 6 - The Necessity of a Luminous Faith in Following the Spiritual Path - by Submitted on May 05, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe long-standing debate between science and religion pits the rational intellect with its demand for facts, proof, and logical inference, along with rigorous testing to achieve reproducible results to dispel doubt against the religious conviction based on faith. Science looks down on faith as ...
Views: 6 - 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: 6 - Aspiration, Spiritual Experience, and the Response of the Divine Force - by Submitted on May 03, 2021 from santosh krinskyIn his book The Mother, Sri Aurobindo concisely outlines the processes and steps of the integral yoga. The progress is based on a two-fold collaboration between the individual Soul and the divine Force, brought about through a tuning process for the human individual through what is called ...
Views: 7 - The Role of the Mental Will in the Spiritual Development of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on May 02, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe will power is a real and important part of the effort by the individual. Will power can be developed through exercise, just as we develop the physical muscles through exercise and weight training. In our development of the mental will, we frequently become frustrated when something we try to ...
Views: 8 - The Role of Aspiration in the Spiritual Development of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on May 02, 2021 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo identifies aspiration as one of the important steps in the sadhana of the integral yoga. What exactly is aspiration? We can understand it by looking at the operation of a frequency tuner, such as a radio or television tuner. There are numerous channels available, and the tuner ...
Views: 8 - Finding the Balance Between Individual Effort and Surrender in the Practice of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Apr 30, 2021 from santosh krinskyPractitioners of the integral yoga are confronted daily with the task of balancing between the individual effort required, and the call to surrender to the divine force that actually is undertaking the changes in the nature that are required. We all start with the ego-consciousness and all of ...
Views: 10 - The Role of Free Will in the Surrender of the Ego - by Submitted on Apr 30, 2021 from santosh krinskyOur mental logic frequently stumbles over the apparent contradictions that lead us to adopt an extreme position over a more nuanced view of things. The debate about the role of free will in the processes of the yoga which involve the surrender of the ego to the action of the divine Force is one ...
Views: 8 - The Path of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Apr 28, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe integral yoga relies on the action of a force of consciousness beyond the mind-life-body complex under which we ordinarily function. This involves a self-exceeding beyond the normal framework. Thus, it cannot be accomplished purely by the action of those powers residing within that ...
Views: 10 - The Surrender of the Ego-Personality to the Divine - by Submitted on Apr 28, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe ego-sense, in its attempt to be in control and glorify in its success, abhors the very idea of “surrender”. The connotation of the term in English is loaded with negative inferences, yet in other languages there are more subtle and deeper meanings to be unlocked. For instance, in Sanskrit, ...
Views: 11 - The Practice of Yoga Through Surrender, Self-Giving and Consecration - by Submitted on Apr 28, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe challenge faced by the aspirant trying to bring about the action of a new basis of awareness and action, is that continued reliance on the habitual means and methods of mind, life and body, inhibits the free active intervention of this new consciousness. The process of exceeding the ...
Views: 12 - Personal Effort and Surrender in the Sadhana of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Apr 28, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe “either/or” limitations of the mental processes leads us generally to believe that spiritual progress either comes with individual effort, or alternatively, through ‘surrender’ of the ego and letting the Divine, or the Guru, bring about the progress. Thus, there are individuals who undertake ...
Views: 10 - 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: 12 - The Way of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Apr 23, 2021 from santosh krinskyMany paths of yoga teach a fixed method that everyone who takes it up is asked to follow in a precise and standardized way. Whether it is the use of a fixed set of asanas, pre-determined pranayama routines, set routines of prayer, mantra, japa, or devotional practices, everyone is given ...
Views: 12 - Opening the Being to the Divine Power and Presence - by Submitted on Apr 23, 2021 from santosh krinskyA yoga that focuses on opening to a new power of consciousness beyond the mind, and that does not abandon life, but acts to transform it, has to address the issues of the limitations embedded in the existing ‘status quo’ of mind-life-body. The limitations inherent in the operations of these ...
Views: 12 - Integral Yoga: Answering the Call - by Submitted on Apr 21, 2021 from santosh krinskyFor many, the idea of Yoga is physical postures and breathing techniques, to attain fitness and flexibility. This is not the whole story, however. Hatha Yoga, which has been popularized world-wide over the last 50 years or so, is one element of the much larger understanding of Yoga which we find ...
Views: 14 - The Divine Grace and Spiritual Realisation - by Submitted on Apr 20, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe pivotal role and importance of Divine Grace in the spiritual realisation comes about because all humanity is essentially locked into the framework of our normal mental-vital standpoint and thus, cannot truly transform the consciousness without something intervening from outside this ...
Views: 13 - Divine Grace and the Action of the Laws of Nature - by Submitted on Apr 19, 2021 from santosh krinskyDue to the nature of the mind, which always seeks for “black and white” solutions and answers, it is easy to fall into the idea that everything depends on one’s own efforts, or alternatively, that one’s efforts do not matter as the Divine controls what occurs. In actuality, there is no real ...
Views: 25 - The Action of Divine Grace - by Submitted on Apr 18, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe difference between our human understanding and effort, and the action of Divine Grace, is the standpoint from which the result flows. The human ego standpoint tries to evaluate everything in reference to itself at the center, and thus, looks to “my effort”, “my results”, “my progress” and ...
Views: 24 - Understanding the Concept of Divine Grace - by Submitted on Apr 17, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe human mind likes to have a logical reason for events, and therefore we search for a causal relationship between an event and some precursor. We call this “cause and effect” or “causality” or “dependent origination” or “law of karma”, or “law of nature”. However we describe it, we are trying ...
Views: 32 - The Mother’s Force to Effectuate the Change of Consciousness - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2021 from santosh krinskyPractitioners of Yoga speak of the opening of the Kundalini and the energy rising up from the base of the spine, through the various chakras and issuing out of the 1000 petalled lotus at the top of the skull. The experience of the rising of the Kundalini is a core development in many yogic ...
Views: 33 - The Mother: Supreme Nature That Manifests All Existence - by Submitted on Apr 15, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe Supreme Divine is “One without a second”. Yet we can still make mental distinctions between the Transcendent, the Universal and the Individual aspects of the Divine, as that is the nature of the mental consciousness, and we can focus on one or another of these aspects without forgetting the ...
Views: 49 - The Divine Mother — the Consciousness-Force of the Divine - by Submitted on Apr 14, 2021 from santosh krinskyIn his book The Mother, Sri Aurobindo writes: “In all that is done in the universe, the Divine through his Shakti is behind all action but he is veiled by his Yoga Maya and works through the ego of the Jiva in the lower nature.” The Divine Shakti, the creative force of the universe, the power ...
Views: 46 - Overcoming Doubt, Fear and Depression Which May Arise During the Practice of Yoga - by Submitted on Apr 13, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe changes sought in the integral Yoga are of such magnitude and detail that they will naturally take a considerable time to work themselves out in all the levels and aspects of our being. Along the way, there come periods of difficulty which may challenge one’s faith or determination, what is ...
Views: 49 - The Divine Force Active in the Practice of Yoga - by Submitted on Apr 12, 2021 from santosh krinskyWe all generally understand the concept of force at the material level. Our entire world is driven by this force as the sun energizes the planet, as the wind, the water and the power of fire in the depths of the earth create our material environment. We understand the concept of force at the ...
Views: 63 - Hidden Powers in Life and Yoga - by Submitted on Apr 11, 2021 from santosh krinskyThere is an interesting contradiction in the way humanity deals with unseen, or invisible forces at work. We believe wholeheartedly nowadays in gravity, electricity, wireless communications, magnetic transportation vehicles, and, despite the fact that all of these represent invisible forces, we ...
Views: 41 - Invisible Forces in Our Lives and in Our Evolutionary Growth - by Submitted on Apr 10, 2021 from santosh krinskyWe do not consider, for the most part, the reliance we have for all things in our lives in the world, upon invisible forces that are at work. We basically take these things for granted, give them names and treat them as a reality that we do not have to think about or reflect upon. No one can ...
Views: 47 - Specific Incarnations of Gods and Their Powers in the Hindu Tradition - by Submitted on Apr 09, 2021 from santosh krinskyIn spiritual and religious traditions around the world, we see a proliferation of names and personalities of God. This has engendered much confusion for people who talk about monotheism versus polytheism. When one looks deeper into the question, however, it becomes clear that in most cases, ...
Views: 50 - Understanding the Role and Nature of the Gods in the Universal Creation - by Submitted on Apr 08, 2021 from santosh krinskyIt is quite natural for human beings to extrapolate the nature of the universe and the meaning of existence from the limited set of facts and information that we perceive and organize in our normal mental-logical process. Yet there is so much that falls outside the scope of these perceptions and ...
Views: 51 - God, Gods, Goddesses and Human Perceptions - by Submitted on Apr 07, 2021 from santosh krinskyDoes God exist? Are there more than one God? Is God a figment of human imagination? These questions have confounded humanity for aeons and, even today, they are hotly debated. Some believe there is only one God and that anyone who worships a different form or name of God is deluded. Some ...
Views: 56 - Doubt, and Certitude About the Divine - by Submitted on Apr 06, 2021 from santosh krinsky“Seeing is believing” has been a proverb for humanity since time immemorial. Yet, as we delve deeper into the way the world functions, we come to understand that what we see is not always an accurate reflection of the underlying reality. We see the sun rise in the East and set in the West on a ...
Views: 51 - Save the Oceans to Save the Planet, Part 4: Tough Choices to Achieve Real Solutions - by Submitted on Apr 05, 2021 from santosh krinskyThere are numerous vested interests, spanning the entire globe, which make the issues surrounding the degradation of the ocean and the ability of the planet to sustain human life and civilization, virtually impossible to resolve from our normal perspectives. Any change that seems necessary or ...
Views: 52 - Experience of the Divine and the Forms of the Divine - by Submitted on Apr 05, 2021 from santosh krinskyWhile a spiritual experience is a subjective event, we can reference the accumulated reports from around the world and throughout human history to provide an accurate picture of the types of experiences and the reality of the experience. Sometimes these experiences come after undertaking various ...
Views: 58 - The Age-Old Testimony of Spiritual Experience - by Submitted on Apr 04, 2021 from santosh krinskyWhen a tornado or a hurricane wreaks destruction in its path, we are overcome with the intensity and the pain caused by that storm. We frequently try to read into this event some personal retribution upon ourselves for some failing according to our moral code or ethical rules. We tend to look at ...
Views: 59 - The Impersonal and the Personal Divine - by Submitted on Apr 03, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe range of spiritual experiences is vast. We tend, in our mental framework, to associate our own practice or religious background or philosophy as the only, or at least, the best, way to attain spiritual realisation; yet, this is actually just a limitation of our ego-consciousness. People ...
Views: 66 - The Transcendental, the Cosmic and the Individual Divine - by Submitted on Apr 02, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe idea of a trinity of aspects or statuses of the Divine has arisen throughout the major religious and spiritual traditions of the world. It is relatively easy to conceptualise this by looking at how we experience the world. We start with an individual perspective, and reference life from that ...
Views: 72 - What Is the Divine? - by Submitted on Apr 01, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe term “Divine” is used by Sri Aurobindo, starting with the title of his magnum opus, The Life Divine. How do we understand the term? In the Taittiriya Upanishad, a seeker asks his father and guru, “Lord, teach me the Eternal.” The response provides us an understanding of the Divine: “Seek ...
Views: 64 - Impact of the Supramental Manifestation on Earthly Existence, Part 2 - by Submitted on Mar 31, 2021 from santosh krinskyThere is a verse in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad which illustrates the essential principle of an evolutionary cycle of the development and growth of consciousness, when it indicates a progression ‘from the darkness to the light, from light to greater light.” The Upanishad foresees that ...
Views: 70 - Impact of the Supramental Manifestation on Earthly Existence, Part 1 - by Submitted on Mar 30, 2021 from santosh krinskyThrough the use of logical reasoning the human mind can extrapolate along a straight line of development once a pattern is seen and understood. We can also combine things through the use of the faculty of imagination to spin a web of speculation about the future, building on what we already ...
Views: 77 - The Process of the Supramental Manifestation and Its Integration into Life on Earth - by Submitted on Mar 29, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe consciousness of Matter could not anticipate or dream of the manifestation of the Life-principle, and the vital living plant and animal consciousness could not anticipate the advent and impact of the mental consciousness. Similarly, the mental consciousness cannot truly understand nor ...
Views: 61 - The Advent of the Supramental Consciousness and Its Impact on Mind, Life and Body - by Submitted on Mar 28, 2021 from santosh krinskyEvery new evolutionary development of consciousness has brought with it changes in the material forms and activity of those forms to accommodate the new powers that are manifesting. It is therefore expected that as the supramental manifestation takes place, it will also bring about changes in ...
Views: 75 - Is There Any Certitude About the Supramental Manifestation Actually Taking Place? - by Submitted on Mar 27, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe mind of the modern day wants to analyze facts and draw conclusions based on those facts. For centuries, the movement has been away from reliance on belief and faith to a reliance on facts and rational analysis. One need only look at the history of the rise of Western science and the disputes ...
Views: 70 - A Supramental Race as the Next Evolutionary Phase - by Submitted on Mar 26, 2021 from santosh krinskyIf we understand the development of life and life-forms on earth as an expression of the evolution of consciousness, we can easily see the relationship between a new power of consciousness and the need to have forms that can hold, and express, that power effectively. Scientists frequently ...
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