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- Concentration Helps the Individual Successfully Accomplish More Tasks in Less Time - by Submitted on Oct 03, 2024 from santosh krinskyIt is frequently noted that certain individuals seem to accomplish more, and despite enormous commitments, they seem ready to take on more and do even more than they are doing. On the other hand, there are individuals who seem to have a low threshold of action and they seem to never have the ...
Views: 97 - Concentration in the Heart Centre to Achieve the Realisation of the Divine Presence in the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Jun 20, 2021 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo describes two main areas of concentration within the being, the heart centre and the head. For most people, the concentration in the heart centre turns out to be the safest and easiest to achieve realisation. Yoga, to be effective, must move beyond either a purely mental exercise ...
Views: 574 - 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 - Concentration in the Mental Centre to Achieve the Realisation of the Divine Presence in the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Jun 21, 2021 from santosh krinskyTraditional yogic disciplines advise the seeker to concentrate between the eyebrows, chanting OM and focusing on the Divine Will. Sri Aurobindo notes this practice, and develops it to provide access to the higher ranges of consciousness above the mental level. The Isha Upanishad notes that there ...
Views: 603 - Concentration of the Consciousness - by Submitted on Dec 13, 2023 from santosh krinskyPeople frequently confuse consciousness with mental awareness and concentration with some kind of mental effort or focus; yet, consciousness is not limited to mental awareness and concentration is not restricted to mental activity. We are all familiar with mental concentration. We focus on some ...
Views: 232 - Conclusions About the Ideal of Human Unity - by Submitted on May 28, 2023 from santosh krinskyEvolutionary change cannot be measured in one or two generations. Developing ideas and forces may be stirring under the surface, preparing to burst forth and, in the interim, remain relatively unseen. In the interim, life goes on as it has always gone on, with the vital and animal propensities ...
Views: 301 - Conditions for Emergence of the Psychic Being - by Submitted on Sep 09, 2021 from santosh krinskyMost people associate yoga with a series of physical exercises and breathing routines. Yoga, however, is more than such physical activities, although they can help to regulate energy flow and enhance stability and provide benefits to the body, life energy and mind. Sri Aurobindo has more broadly ...
Views: 479 - Conditions for Preparation for the Supramental Change, Part 1 - by Submitted on Oct 10, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe practice of the integral Yoga does not rely on prowess of physical postures (asanas) or breathing techniques (pranayama) or external rituals or practices. It is focused on creating the right internal ‘landscape’ in the psychology in order to achieve specific psychological asanas, so to ...
Views: 576 - Conditions for Preparation for the Supramental Change, Part 2 - by Submitted on Oct 10, 2021 from santosh krinskyOnce the psychic being is in front and directing the aspiration, focus and receptivity of the being to the action of the Divine Force, it is necessary to maintain the correct psychological posture, which implies not allowing either rajasic or tamasic energies to dominate the effort, avoiding ...
Views: 575 - Conditions for the Practice and Progress on the Path of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Nov 04, 2021 from santosh krinskyPeople throughout time and around the world, from all different backgrounds and religious or spiritual traditions, have developed a number of ways to integrate their religious or spiritual beliefs and practices into their lives. Some simply disregard these things and live a life of satisfaction ...
Views: 452 - Confusion About the Real Inner Self and the ExternalSurface Personality Is the Root of Our Suffering - by Submitted on Jun 22, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhen an individual takes up the spiritual path, there is considerable focus on the idea that the life of the external world is an ‘illusion’ and needs to be abandoned in order to achieve spiritual liberation. He sees that a focus on the external personality, its needs, desires, satisfactions, ...
Views: 298 - Confusion About the Reality of the Atman and the Ego - by Submitted on Oct 08, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe frequently allow our mental process and the limitations of language to create confusion within ourselves. The mind’s primary capacities involve fragmentation and classification; thus, we identify different aspects, parts, beings, roles, events and treat them as separate and distinct from one ...
Views: 272 - Confusion About the Reality of the Atman and the Ego - by Submitted on Oct 08, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe frequently allow our mental process and the limitations of language to create confusion within ourselves. The mind’s primary capacities involve fragmentation and classification; thus, we identify different aspects, parts, beings, roles, events and treat them as separate and distinct from one ...
Views: 290 - 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 - Conscious Development of the Psychic Being and its Instruments from Life to Life - by Submitted on Feb 03, 2024 from santosh krinskyFor most individuals, the process of birth, death and rebirth is essentially automatic and out of their conscious control. With the death of the body, the vital being and then the mental being eventually lose their integrity and dissolve as well. The psychic being, with its increasing store of ...
Views: 201 - Conscious Evolution - by Submitted on Jan 21, 2021 from santosh krinskyEvolution takes time. Hundreds of millions of years were required to move even small steps forward, as universal “time” does not fit into the “human” time-sense. Humanity measures things in terms of an individual lifespan, and in increments that we have devised from our humanity-centric ...
Views: 734 - Conscious Evolution - by Submitted on Jan 22, 2021 from santosh krinskyEvolution takes time. Hundreds of millions of years were required to move even small steps forward, as universal “time” does not fit into the “human” time-sense. Humanity measures things in terms of an individual lifespan, and in increments that we have devised from our humanity-centric ...
Views: 667 - Conscious Powers of Light and Darkness Oppose One Another in the External World We Inhabit - by Submitted on May 13, 2024 from santosh krinskyEverywhere we look, whether in material Nature, or in the vital or mental domains, we see a play of forces, attraction and repulsion, centrifugal and centripetal, positive and negative, dark and light, etc. It appears to be a core principle of the creation to utilize these opposing forces to ...
Views: 177 - Consciousness in the Unconscious - by Submitted on Aug 23, 2023 from santosh krinskyHow can something arise out of nothing? How can consciousness develop out of unconscious matter? Western science has tried to explain how life and mind can arise through random recombination of atoms and the impact of energetic forces on these atoms, but Western science has not explained where ...
Views: 245 - Consciousness Pervades All Forms, Beings and Entities in the Universal Creation - by Submitted on May 12, 2024 from santosh krinskyIn his play Hamlet, William Shakespeare comments on the limitations of the objective mind and its ability to understand existence: ““There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy”. Our mind’s view of the existence of the universe and its significance ...
Views: 182 - Consciousness, Its Powers and the Drive to Discover Our True Self - by Submitted on Aug 20, 2024 from santosh krinskyWhen we try to define consciousness we tend to do it from an individual standpoint, our own state of awareness. From a broader perspective however, we can see that consciousness exceeds both in scope and power, that of the individual status. Western science is moving toward a view that will ...
Views: 147 - Conservative Bias and Progressive Action - by Submitted on Jul 15, 2023 from santosh krinskyThere is a conservative bias in earthly existence that seeks to preserve established ways of life as a means of providing an element of stability. This principle helps to avoid the chaotic implications of unrestricted change, thereby providing a basis and a certain amount of certainty. This ...
Views: 292 - Contacting and Connecting With the Universal Vital Force, Part I - by Submitted on May 23, 2022 from santosh krinskyChildren naturally have direct contact with the universal vital energy but this tends to fade into the background and be ‘lost’ as the mind ‘learns’ the ‘laws of nature’ which do not recognise the energy or its relationship to us. This is a circumstance of the artificially limiting action of the ...
Views: 461 - Contacting and Connecting With the Universal Vital Force, Part II - by Submitted on May 24, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhen we fixate on the fulfillment of the body-life-mind complex in our external being, the exclusive concentration involved helps us to temporarily lose sight of the larger Oneness of which all are a part. We then put ourselves in opposition to other aspects of the one Reality and treat each ...
Views: 423 - Contagion: Physical Contagion, Vital Contagion, Mental Contagion - by Submitted on Dec 10, 2023 from santosh krinskyContagion is the transmission of something, whether physical, vital or mental energy/vibration, from one entity or being to another. On the physical plane, contagion is usually understood to be transmitted through the use of a physical medium, such as a ‘germ’, whether we call it a bacteria, or ...
Views: 222 - Contending With the Multitude of Beings That Exist Within Each Individual - by Submitted on Jun 24, 2023 from santosh krinskyAlmost everyone has the experience, from time to time, of acting out a different personality. We may say that someone “got out of bed on the wrong side this morning” when we see a normally cheerful and upbeat individual responding in a totally uncharacteristic way. We chalk this up to some mood ...
Views: 335 - Contradictions and Inconsistencies in Our Mental Process - by Submitted on Dec 03, 2023 from santosh krinskyThe normal process of mental reception brings in numerous thought-forms, based on the receptivity of the individual and the wideness of his sources of information and mental energy. For those who have not systematically developed a process for organising the mind, these thought-froms have no ...
Views: 266 - Controlling One’s Imagination - by Submitted on Sep 23, 2024 from santosh krinskyMore frequently than not, the spiritual aspirant has both a great upward aspiration and a corresponding ‘knot’ that he needs to work out which is the counter-part to the upward capacity. It is the dynamic tension between the two that forces him to persevere. He will either given in to the lower ...
Views: 143 - Controlling One’s Thoughts - by Submitted on Jun 12, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe mind is always active, jumping from one input source to another, depending on the senses and their objects, the various forms of media we are consuming, including radio, tv, music, reading, social media, etc.; but also on a variety of internal factors including nutritional factors, ...
Views: 449 - Controlling the Ego in Ordinary Life and in Yoga - by Submitted on Jun 06, 2021 from santosh krinskyIn the normal life of an individual in society, the ego is important, although it’s actions must be managed to permit people to find ways to work together and achieve results. Wherever we turn, we can see the benefits of keeping the ego in check and subordinating the individual’s role within a ...
Views: 518 - Cosmic Consciousness and a Shift from the Ego-Standpoint to the Divine Standpoint - by Submitted on Aug 08, 2021 from santosh krinskyHow can anyone describe or comprehend an experience of consciousness so foreign to our normal human individual experience? Sages and seers have used many illustrative images to try to provide the mind some vague notion of the significance of the shift in standpoint that is represented by the ...
Views: 494 - Cosmic Truth and Cosmic Ignorance: the Unity and the Multiplicity - by Submitted on Aug 09, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe Isha Upanishad describes the dual aspects of Reality, the Ignorance and the Knowledge: “Into a blind darkness they enter who follow after the Ignorance, they as if into a greater darkness who devote themselves to the Knowledge alone. Other, verily it is said, is that which comes by the ...
Views: 525 - Creating a Balance Between the Spiritual Quest and the Development of the Body, Life and Mind - by Submitted on Dec 23, 2023 from santosh krinskyA yogic discipline focused on the abandonment of life does not take pains to develop the inherent powers and capacities of the body, life-force and the mind. In fact, the powers of these elements of the human instrument are instead considered to be lures, obstacles and impediments to the ...
Views: 194 - Creating a Balance Between the Spiritual Quest and the Development of the Body, Life and Mind - by Submitted on Dec 23, 2023 from santosh krinskyA yogic discipline focused on the abandonment of life does not take pains to develop the inherent powers and capacities of the body, life-force and the mind. In fact, the powers of these elements of the human instrument are instead considered to be lures, obstacles and impediments to the ...
Views: 201 - Creating Balance for the Physical Body as an Instrument of the Sadhana - by Submitted on Jan 18, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhen the mind is engaged in carrying out some idea, or the vital being is involved and enthusiastic about something, there is a strong tendency for the rise of Rajas in the being. Rajas has a tendency to overdo things, go beyond limits and as a result, it is the frequent cause of injury and the ...
Views: 478 - Creating Beneficial Thought Forms and Their Positive Action - by Submitted on Sep 05, 2024 from santosh krinskyWhenever there is some kind of news headline about a major negative event, such as a school shooting, or a catastrophic earthquake or hurricane, we hear major political leaders express “thoughts and prayers” for the victims and their families. Everyone knows that there is no serious force behind ...
Views: 146 - Creating Harmony and Understanding Requires a Change of Consciousness - by Submitted on Apr 04, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe mental consciousness believes, first of all, that the particular viewpoint held by an individual is ‘correct’ and that other viewpoints are ‘wrong’. The vital nature wants to assert itself and gain dominance. The limited and linear framework of the normal human consciousness ensures that ...
Views: 11 - Cultivating Inner Peace as the Basis of Spiritual Sadhana - by Submitted on Feb 03, 2023 from santosh krinskyGiven the reactive nature of the external being, the mind, the vital, the physical body, there is generally a lack of peace and we are driven from one response to another as circumstances, events, sense impressions, etc. impinge upon us. Development of an awareness that is separated from this ...
Views: 389 - Cultivating Mental Honesty to Address the Habit of Self-Deception - by Submitted on Jan 18, 2024 from santosh krinskyThe habit of self-deception is so deeply ingrained, and so automatic, that we tend not to see or recognise it when it is occurring. And it occurs constantly throughout each day. How can we overcome this habit of self-deception? This is where a yogic discipline, an effort in the practice, becomes ...
Views: 235 - Dealing with Difficulties and Setbacks Along the Way - by Submitted on Jun 23, 2022 from santosh krinskyWe tend to judge things, events, opportunities, setbacks, obstacles and directions from the standpoint of our individual ego-personality. When we take up a spiritual path, we expect that our efforts, and our devotion to the guide or master in whom we rely, will smooth the path in front of us and ...
Views: 428 - Dealing with Dualities - by Submitted on Mar 14, 2025 from santosh krinskyOur experience in the world is one of dualities, hot and cold, wet and dry, happy and sad, love and hate, darkness and light, etc. We recognise that we cannot have the one without the other. The Chinese symbol of In/Yang illustrates the intertwined nature of these dualities and that even in the ...
Views: 26 - Dealing with Mental Resistance to Attempts to Silence the Mind - by Submitted on Jun 14, 2022 from santosh krinskyIt is quite natural for an individual, particularly a seeker attempting to make progress in the yogic process, to internalize the difficulties and blame them on his own weakness, incapacity, or lack of will power. The reality, however, is that this is a continuation of the egocentric viewpoint ...
Views: 436 - Dealing with Obtrusive, Repetitive Thoughts - by Submitted on Jun 09, 2022 from santosh krinskyBefore we can deal with thoughts, we need to have at least a basic understanding of what they are and where they come from, what they consist of, and what the purpose of thought is. Yet, we rarely if ever examine these questions and simply take thought for granted as something necessary and ...
Views: 465 - Dealing With Pain - by Submitted on Dec 13, 2024 from santosh krinskyIf we look at the mechanism of pain, we find that wherever there is an injury, disease or stress on a part of the body, a ‘vibration’ starts there, in many cases what medical science would call ‘inflammation’, that triggers a nerve impulse to send the signal to the receptors in the brain, where ...
Views: 92 - Dealing with Periods of Dryness or Dullness in the Yogic Sadhana - by Submitted on Mar 25, 2023 from santosh krinskyIt is a frequent and universal experience that when an individual takes up the practice of yoga, there are periods of great enthusiasm, aspiration is active and progress is palpable. It is however virtually impossible to maintain the intensity of the sadhana all the time, so as the action of the ...
Views: 344 - Dealing With Physical Pain - by Submitted on Aug 03, 2022 from santosh krinskyIn various places, Sri Aurobindo describes the possibility of pain becoming for the spiritual practitioner an intense form of spiritual bliss, Ananda. He is describing the psychological experience of a realized soul who has separated himself from attachment to and identification with the ...
Views: 479 - Dealing with the Physical Mind in the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Oct 20, 2021 from santosh krinskyPractitioners of spiritual and religious disciplines inevitably are confronted with the habits and expectations of the physical mind in day to day life. There is a constant pressure to provide regular meals that suit the taste of the individual, comfortable surroundings to support the day to day ...
Views: 456 - Dealing with the Subconscient Elements of the Being - by Submitted on Aug 23, 2022 from santosh krinskyAs the individual confronts the various impulses, emotions, drives and thoughts that arise and drive his life and action, he begins to recognise that there are elements that are not easily identified on the surface, and that there is something that cannot quite be grabbed with the intellect, ...
Views: 414 - Death, the Conquest of Death, and the Supramental Transformation - by Submitted on Oct 11, 2021 from santosh krinskyIn his lectures on Raja Yoga, Swami Vivekananda points out clearly that chasing after powers or siddhis as they are called, is not the aim of the yoga and can be a distraction from the primary goal. They may come, but should not be sought after or made a primary determinant of the yogic process ...
Views: 538 - Delving into the Complexity of Determining an Individual’s Destiny in Life - by Submitted on Nov 24, 2023 from santosh krinskyTo understand the complexity of any individual’s destiny, it is essential to note that it is comprised of an amalgam of the streams of energy that flow through each aspect of his being. Thus, there is a physical destiny, a vital destiny, a mental destiny, a spiritual destiny, each following the ...
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