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Articles from santosh krinsky | Selfgrowth.com
- Living Within: Summary and Conclusions - by Submitted on Oct 22, 2022 from santosh krinskyLiving Within: The Yoga Approach to Psychological Health and Growth, compliled by Dr. A.S. Dalal, is an eminently practical handbook for understanding and addressing the complexity of our psychological makeup. Modern-day civilisation creates enormous pressures for individuals, while at the same ...
Views: 371 - 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: 365 - Following the Unique Path of One’s Deepest Aspiration to Spiritual Realisation - by Submitted on Oct 20, 2022 from santosh krinskyIt is a somewhat difficult concept for most people to accept: that each individual has his own spiritual path and realisation before him, and that it is therefore neither appropriate nor fruitful to spend time trying to either criticise or convert others to one’s own path or view, or to attempt ...
Views: 393 - The Attempt to Develop Tolerance and Understanding to Avoid Quarrelling - by Submitted on Oct 19, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhen one begins to consider how the faults we find in others are those to which we ourselves are susceptible, and that we see them through the focus and affinity that we have to them, as the synchronicity of the universe brings forward to us those very things that we are naturally attracting, it ...
Views: 349 - The Faults We Observe In Others Are a Reflection of the Faults We Carry In Ourselves - by Submitted on Oct 18, 2022 from santosh krinskyIt is much easier to see and criticise others for their ideas, behaviour or habits, than to see in oneself potentially those same issues. Jesus raised this issue in his Sermon on the Mount: “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in ...
Views: 353 - Making Best Use of Our Limited Time - by Submitted on Oct 17, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhen we reflect on the time we have in our lifetime and how we utilize it, we find that after we calculate time spent in sleeping, eating, bathing, growth in childhood, earning a living, exercising, we have a very limited amount of what may be called “free time” available to us. In a culture and ...
Views: 380 - 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: 358 - Various Forms of Meditation and Their Potential Benefits - by Submitted on Oct 15, 2022 from santosh krinskyMost people are confused about what meditation is. One of the causes of this confusion is the variety of forms of meditation that are recommended and practiced by various traditions. Some forms of meditation require strenuous efforts and considerable time to bear fruit. The Mother provides ...
Views: 388 - 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: 369 - Options and Risks in Widening the Consciousness Using Various Methods - by Submitted on Oct 13, 2022 from santosh krinskyThere are numerous ways to widen one’s consciousness to begin to incorporate the viewpoint and direction of others. Some of these methods are easier than others, in that they utilize a mood or feeling that is evoked from a natural environment, such as the starry sky, the ocean, a wide view from ...
Views: 374 - Experiencing the Wideness of the Consciousness - by Submitted on Oct 12, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe Vedic Rishis sought the Truth, the Right, the Vast. (satyam, rtam, brihat). They understood that the awareness limited to the ego-personality, the individual body-life-mind complex, was incomplete and could not comprehend the truth or meaning of existence. They sought to identify with the ...
Views: 389 - 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: 363 - 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: 366 - 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: 363 - Self-Identification with Others — Loosening the Bonds of the Ego-Consciousness - by Submitted on Oct 08, 2022 from santosh krinskyWith focus, over time and with dedicated effort, the power of concentrated attention, samyama, eventually bears fruit and one can escape the boundaries of the ego-consciousness and enter into an identification with others. As this occurs, we understand their motivations and the direction of ...
Views: 369 - Entering the Viewpoint of Another Person Widens the Understanding and Builds a Basis for Harmony - by Submitted on Oct 07, 2022 from santosh krinskyThere is a complex game called ‘chess’. The modern form of the game reputedly developed from a strategic game that appears to have originated in India in around the 6th or 7th century, although there were likely precursor forms that existed prior to that time. As a game of strategy, the object ...
Views: 407 - Moving Beyond Arguments and Widening One’s Thought - by Submitted on Oct 06, 2022 from santosh krinskyAt some time or another, every human being has the experience of having an opinion, thought or idea contradicted. The usual reaction is to defend one’s position, whether or not it is well-founded, and arguments tend to ensure. It is rare that one side of the argument is entirely right, and the ...
Views: 387 - A Technique for Shifting the Focus of Consciousness Into a Status of Complete Identification - by Submitted on Oct 05, 2022 from santosh krinskyPatanjali in his Yoga Sutras describes the practice of samyama which is a power of identification that results from the systematic development of dharana (holding the mind on to some particular object), dhyana (an unbroken flow of knowledge in that object) and samadhi (reflecting on the meaning, ...
Views: 380 - Overcoming Polarization and Argument - by Submitted on Oct 04, 2022 from santosh krinskyWe live in a time of extreme polarization. People and even entire societies are taking fixed stands, and disputing the validity or right of anyone holding different or opposing viewpoints. In the framework of governing a nation, this leads inevitably to either a form of political gridlock if the ...
Views: 386 - Conquering Difficulties With a Positive Mind-Set - by Submitted on Oct 03, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe Indian tradition relates a story of the divine singer, Narad, which emphasizes the power of a positive mind-set in the spiritual quest. He came across a yogi undertaking strenuous discipline, tapasya, This yogi inquired how much longer he would need to achieve enlightenment. Narad replied “4 ...
Views: 391 - Separating the Shadow from the Light in One’s Bein - by Submitted on Oct 02, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhen we look around and see the challenges facing us on the planet, our first impulse is generally to try to find some kind of “fix” to the situation. This generally takes the form of suggesting that our current economic or political system or model is defective, deficient or broken, and thus, ...
Views: 374 - The Parable of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - by Submitted on Oct 01, 2022 from santosh krinskyRobert Louis Stevenson wrote what is one of the classics in Western literature, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The tale is one of a scientist who experiments with potions, one of which releases the dark side of his being, the suppressed inhibitions and dark urges of murder, lust, ...
Views: 380 - 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: 360 - 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: 368 - The Darkness and the Light Within Each Individual - by Submitted on Sep 28, 2022 from santosh krinskyAncient Chinese philosophy enunciated the concept of yin and yang, which represent the opposites that together form a whole, and which are constantly interacting with one another dynamically. The classical image shows a black spot in a white background and a white spot in a black background, ...
Views: 376 - The Power of Peace - by Submitted on Sep 27, 2022 from santosh krinskyAs human beings, we are enamored of dynamic power. We want “action” and the powers of the body, the life energy and the mind are prized when they can accomplish visible results. We have proverbs such as “might makes right” which make it seem like strength in action is the most positive ...
Views: 425 - Bringing Harmony Between the Inner Psychic Being and the External Nature - by Submitted on Sep 26, 2022 from santosh krinskyFor Sri Aurobindo, truth of the spirit is to be lived, not attained by abandonment of life in the world. He looks at the evolution of body, life and mind as steps along the evolutionary process, and each one of them represents an important stage in an ongoing development. The action of these ...
Views: 377 - 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: 370 - Concentration in the Mental Centre Is the Second Major Method to Achieve Liberation - by Submitted on Sep 24, 2022 from santosh krinskySome people, especially those with a naturally devotional nature, will gravitate toward concentration that is centred in the region of the heart. Others, who have a more intellectual turn, will find it easier in most instances to experience the concentration in the mental centre. This approach ...
Views: 458 - Spiritual Realisation Through Concentration in the Heart Centre - by Submitted on Sep 23, 2022 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo distinguishes between a “mental seeking” and a “living spiritual experience”. While those who are intellectually-minded frequently confuse ‘knowing’ with “KNOWING”, there is actually a clear distinction between the ability to read, hear, memorize and repeat back a teaching, which ...
Views: 350 - Occult Experience of Visualization Applied to Contacting the Soul - by Submitted on Sep 22, 2022 from santosh krinskyMany people have reported the experience of visualizing, either in deep meditation, or in what may be called a dream state, or a lucid dream state, a house, or building, or even in some cases a cave, and when one enters into that space, there are numerous passages or doors, and if one follows it ...
Views: 397 - Visualization as an Aid for Entering into Contact with One’s Psychic Being - by Submitted on Sep 21, 2022 from santosh krinskyFor those who have the power of visualisation and who are ready and willing to concentrate in this way, there can be tremendous progress in developing the relation to the psychic being. The mind transcribes the energetic relationships of the various parts of the being into different rooms and ...
Views: 355 - The Power of Visualisation Can Aid in Overcoming the Limits of the Logic-Bound Mental Consciousness in Achieving Realisation in the Spiritual Endeavour and the External World - by Submitted on Sep 20, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe mental being tends to accept that if it has an intellectual understanding of something, that it has ‘accomplished’ that thing. It does not tend to concern itself with the vital or physical world per se, and thus, if it ‘knows’ that it is one with the rest of the universal creation, or if it ...
Views: 345 - 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: 357 - 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: 363 - 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: 357 - The First Step In Organising One’s Life Around a Central Will or Aspiration - by Submitted on Sep 16, 2022 from santosh krinskyThose who have an aspiration for spiritual growth, for the change of human nature within themselves, eventually find that they cannot live haphazardly, at the mercy of whatever forces, impulses, ideas or thoughts happen to be moving within them at any point in time, regardless of the source or ...
Views: 393 - Alleviating the Greater Part of Human Suffering - by Submitted on Sep 15, 2022 from santosh krinskyIn the opening chapter of The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo sets forth the proposition that “… all problems of existence are essentially problems of harmony.” We can see the reality of this statement both in the way we respond internally to circumstances, events and our reactions to them, as well ...
Views: 379 - How to Transform One’s Nature By Overcoming Mental and Vital Bias - by Submitted on Sep 14, 2022 from santosh krinskyOnce we have recognised that we cannot rely on the mental being to truly review, analyse and control the vital desire-soul of the external being, and adopted the principle enunciated by the Mother to hold up each thought, feeling, emotion, action and motivation before a ‘screen’ of one’s highest ...
Views: 401 - An Exercise to Overcome the Mental Bias to Facilitate the Ability to “Know Thyself” - by Submitted on Sep 13, 2022 from santosh krinskyOnce we recognise that we cannot trust the mental faculty to keep the vital desire-soul in check, the question arises as to how it is then possible to truly examine the underlying motives and wellsprings of our thoughts, feelings and actions without falling victim to the kind of bias that the ...
Views: 416 - 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: 353 - Who Am I? - by Submitted on Sep 11, 2022 from santosh krinskySri Ramana Maharshi famously inquired into the question ‘who am I?’. Through constant self-examination with this question, the seeker begins to separate himself from the idea that he is the body, or the particular life-energy formation or mental sense that make up his external, surface ...
Views: 464 - An Exercise to Experience the Nature of Consciousness - by Submitted on Sep 10, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe quest to understand the nature of consciousness, and “who am I?” spans back through the past history of mankind. Some of the exercises undertaken by the ancient sages remain relevant into the current day, as the Mother illustrates in her example below, which derives i its original form from ...
Views: 377 - Becoming Aware of Consciousness Independent of the Body, Life and Mind - by Submitted on Sep 09, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhat is consciousness? How can we understand consciousness separate from what we believe to be ourselves, the body, vital force and mental framework that we identify with? Philosophers, scientists and religious leaders have all tried to develop a definition of “consciousness”. Rene Descartes ...
Views: 391 - The Necessity, Process and Benefit of Stepping Back from Involvement in the External Surface Consciousness - by Submitted on Sep 08, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhen we live on the surface of our being, we are highly reactive and tend to act without reflection, jumping at events or circumstances and responding to the slightest provocations. Even something as frequent as someone driving too slowly or too close triggers anger and in some cases, what is ...
Views: 391 - 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: 377 - Comparison of a Life Guided by the Psychic Being and a Life Under Control of the External Personality of the Mind, Life and Body - by Submitted on Sep 06, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe Mother illustrates clearly the difference in how an individual responds when the psychic being is in front, guiding the mind, life and body, as opposed to what happens when it is in the background, either pushed back, or deeply hidden under the cover of the external being, leaving the mind, ...
Views: 399 - Evolutionary Change and the Process of Time - by Submitted on Sep 05, 2022 from santosh krinskyEvolutionary changes take place in what we may call “evolutionary time”, which measures major changes over millennia, certainly far beyond the span of any individual human lifetime. Thus, when we look at any attempt to modify human nature, not to speak of physical characteristics that are ...
Views: 410 - Becoming Conscious of the Psychic Being, the Soul in Man - by Submitted on Sep 04, 2022 from santosh krinskyThere are many different spiritual disciplines and methods, and also different experiences of consciousness that result from practice of these methods. For those who aspire to bring the soul, the psychic being, forward and active in the physical body and life, Sri Aurobindo describes several ...
Views: 416 - 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, ...
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