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Consciousness and Awareness Articles
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- The Experience of the Individual in the Ordinary Life of the External Surface Being - by Submitted on Jun 05, 2023 from santosh krinskyFor the individual living on the surface of his being, interacting with the external world, responding to impulsions, pressures, forces and the objects of desire, his inner experience is essentially a reaction to these external pressures and an attempt to meet the desires that arise and somehow ...
Views: 1 - Transformation of Human Nature Requires a Shift of Standpoint Away From Absorption in the Actions and Reactions of the External Being - by Submitted on Jun 04, 2023 from santosh krinskyTransformation of human nature is not practical from a standpoint mired within that nature. Forces push the being in one direction or another, and the individual is under the power of the divergent drives put up by the physical, the vital and the mental being, compounded by the impact of the ...
Views: 1 - A Primary Difference Between Traditional Understanding of Yoga and the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother - by Submitted on Jun 03, 2023 from santosh krinskyYoga has historically focused on liberation of the individual soul from the illusion of the outer world. The seeker is advised to see through the transitory nature of all external rewards, undertake practices that help him to discover his true self, and once that is done, live a life, free from ...
Views: 2 - Self-Knowledge and Self-Mastery - by Submitted on Jun 03, 2023 from santosh krinskyThe purpose of attaining self-knowledge is not to create an intellectual framework and be able to learnedly expound on a subject; rather, self-knowledge implies that the seeker has a purpose behind the effort. This purpose may be to find a way to gain ‘liberation’ from the existing life, to ...
Views: 3 - Understanding the Difference Between Psychic and Spiritual - by Submitted on Jun 01, 2023 from santosh krinskyEvery language has its limitations, particularly surrounding areas of development that were not central to the people who developed and utilized that language. This makes it difficult to translate concepts that are self-evident in one language easily or effectively into another language. This ...
Views: 4 - Discrimination to Recognise the Distinction of Different Forces and the Various Parts of the Being is Necessary for the Spiritual Seeker - by Submitted on May 31, 2023 from santosh krinskyThe Buddhist tradition describes Manjushri as a Bodhisattva who, with his flaming sword of discrimination, cuts through illusion and falsehood to disclose the truth of existence. The power of discrimination between different powers, forces, impressions, suggestions, and their source and intent ...
Views: 5 - The Opportunity of Life's Challenges to Awaken and Grow - by Submitted on May 30, 2023 from Maetreyii Ma NolanFor hundreds of thousands of years, humans have lived on this planet. They have each struggled to exist, to survive, to have a good life - to live. And in this time throughout history, people have encountered various obstacles, difficulties, and struggles in life. These struggles are a natural ...
Views: 6 - Utilizing the Mental Power to Aid the Understanding of Our Complex Being - by Submitted on May 30, 2023 from santosh krinskyMany years ago, Sri M P Pandit suggested that a devotee write an article about the importance of precise bookkeeping and accounting while engaged in service. There was a prevailing sentiment that such ‘mental ideas’ were antithetical to the kind of absolute devotion and surrender that put ...
Views: 6 - Yoga: The Science of Consciousness - by Submitted on May 29, 2023 from santosh krinskyIn our modern world, we see the wide dissemination of yoga, primarily as a means of gaining some measure of control over the body, through the postures developed and taught under the rubric of ‘hatha yoga’. In many instances, teachers of hatha yoga have taken the step of teaching their students ...
Views: 7 - 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: 7 - Our Many Selves: Practical Yogic Psychology — Introduction - by Submitted on May 28, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe tend to believe that we are a single, consistent and harmonized individuality, personality, character. For the most part, we are not self-reflective enough to recognise the inconsistencies and inner conflicts that take place within the being, due to different drives, needs, desires, and ...
Views: 8 - Growing Within: the Psychology of Inner Development: Summary and Conclusions - by Submitted on May 27, 2023 from santosh krinskyHumanity is facing an existential crisis. Scientists report that changes brought about by human civilisation have created the conditions that are causing what is now being called the sixth planetary die-off of species. The land, water and air are all being polluted. Toxic chemicals are poisoning ...
Views: 8 - The Shift or Reversal of Consciousness Happens All At Once, Not Gradually - by Submitted on May 26, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe are used to the idea that if we practice something, if we undertake a course of study, we will gradually increase our ability and our level of understanding, so that eventually we move, in the academic field, for example, from primary school to high school, to college, potentially to graduate ...
Views: 9 - Becoming Aware of the Illusion of the External Life - by Submitted on May 25, 2023 from santosh krinskyMany people are begin to reflect, and even entertain the notion, that the world we experience on a day to day basis is somehow unreal or illusory. Films such as the dystopian story set forth in The Matrix envision that human beings are fettered and their brains wired so they experience a form of ...
Views: 11 - Attaining Certainty About the Actuality of the Reversal of Consciousness - by Submitted on May 24, 2023 from santosh krinskySeekers wonder how they can be sure that the true shift of consciousness to the divine standpoint, or even a soul-centric standpoint has occurred. The status is so ‘real’ that it permits no doubt whatsoever. When one combines this sense of reality with the way in which one reacts totally ...
Views: 11 - DIVINE LOVE - by Submitted on May 24, 2023 from I Am Ellehcim (Elohim)DIVINE LOVE Love has no measurements. You cannot Love someone "so much or too much." You cannot Love "hard." Love simply has no conditions. You can either Love someone or you don't. There just are no measurements to how much you can Love another person. When you say that you Love someone "so ...
Views: 13 - The Pursuit of Happiness - by Submitted on May 23, 2023 from William CottringerThe Pursuit of Happiness by Bill Cottringer When we define an experience with words, we spoil the experience; and the result is how we define anything determines how much or how little of it we have. ~The Author. If we have one common goal in life, it is the pursuit of happiness. ...
Views: 11 - Preparation for the Definitive Shift of the Consciousness to a New Standpoint - by Submitted on May 23, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhen a seeker has an unusual experience, when the consciousness shifts to a different standpoint, when new forms of understanding, inspiration, and response suddenly arise, there can be a feeling of intense disorientation, concern, fear or anxiety. ‘What is happening to me?’ Given the ...
Views: 11 - The Breakthrough to the Reversal of Consciousness - by Submitted on May 22, 2023 from santosh krinskySri Ramana Maharshi, to point the seeker towards the truth of his existence, asked ‘who am I?’ With persistent inquiry, the individual soon finds that this external personality, ego-self that we normally treat as who we are, is in reality a front, a shell, an illusion, and that the truth of our ...
Views: 13 - A New Birth Into a Spiritual Life - by Submitted on May 21, 2023 from santosh krinskyThere is a considerable amount of talk about being “born again” in the modern-day Christian tradition. When we explore what is meant, it seems like it is a matter of accepting in one’s heart a certain belief set central to the denomination that espouses this idea. There does not seem to be any ...
Views: 14 - Spiritual Experiences Manifest When They Are Ready and When the Seeker Can Perceive Them - by Submitted on May 20, 2023 from santosh krinskyOur ability to perceive is limited both by the scale within which we are able to perceive, as well as the operation of the “all or nothing” phenomenon. Thus, events are occurring, activities are underway at wavelengths below those we can perceive, and above those we can perceive. At some point, ...
Views: 14 - The Shift from Ego-Personality to Divine Standpoint - by Submitted on May 19, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe generally tend to believe that if we focus intensely enough, if we undertake serious spiritual disciplines, we will achieve the goal of spiritual liberation or realisations that we may be seeking. There are no doubt many benefits from practicing spiritual disciplines, undertaking tapasya, and ...
Views: 15 - The Nature of the Reversal of Consciousness Cannot Be Fully Grasped by the Ordinary Human Externalized Consciousness - by Submitted on May 18, 2023 from santosh krinskyIf we reflect for a moment that a being who does not have a highly developed abstract mental capacity, perhaps a fish or a honeybee, or even a cat or dog, is unable to truly appreciate and understand the functioning of the higher reasoning and logical capabilities that human beings consider to ...
Views: 17 - Spiritual Experience Comes and Goes Until the Nature Becomes Ready for a Total Shift of Standpoint - by Submitted on May 17, 2023 from santosh krinskyMost people who take up spiritual practices are deeply involved in some kind of regular practice and, as with everything else in the normal life, they look for signs and signals that show they are making progress in their chosen path of development. An experience comes, some new revelatory ...
Views: 16 - The Limits of Mental, Vital and Physical Efforts to Change Human Nature and the Need for a Shift of Consciousness to a New Evolutionary Principle - by Submitted on May 16, 2023 from santosh krinskyIn his epic poem Savitri: a Legend and a Symbol, Sri Aurobindo writes: “Heavy unchanged weighs still the imperfect world; The splendid youth of Time has passed and failed; Heavy and long are the years our labour counts, And still the seals are firm upon man’s soul And weary is the ancient ...
Views: 19 - The Necessity of a Reversal of Consciousness for Living the Spiritual Life - by Submitted on May 15, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhether we describe it as a ‘shift of standpoint’ or a ‘reversal of consciousness’, it is an essential turning point in the development of a spiritual life that the individual adjust both his focus and his interpretation of the life experience to conform, not with the outer view on the surface ...
Views: 19 - The Yogic Practitioner Experiences a Reversal of Consciousness Compared to Most of Humanity - by Submitted on May 14, 2023 from santosh krinskyIt is said that for the yogic practitioner, day and night are reversed when compared to the vast majority of human beings. This statement has many possible implications that can be explored. “Day” and “Night” are representative of opposite concepts, different ways of seeing and reacting to ...
Views: 19 - The Way to Make Steady and Lasting Progress in Spiritual Growth - by Submitted on May 13, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhen we begin to observe ourselves, the thoughts we entertain, the emotions we express, the feelings we have and accept, the physical reactions that occur within ourselves, it soon becomes clear that we are more ‘reactive’ than ‘active’. We respond to energies, vibrations, pressures from outside ...
Views: 20 - The Awakened Psychic Being Attracts What It Needs for Its Growth and Development - by Submitted on May 12, 2023 from santosh krinskyThere has been a lot of publicity about what is called generally the “law of attraction”. This holds that an individual can focus on something and thereby cause it to be attracted to him. People have used it to try to attract wealth, romance, and other things they desire to themselves. There is, ...
Views: 20 - The Growth of the Soul - by Submitted on May 11, 2023 from santosh krinskyIt is the normal process of Nature that each being, each individual experiences life, interacts with his environment and with other individuals and forms thereby his physical being, his vital being and his mental being through these interactions. What is not easily recognised, due to the unseen ...
Views: 21 - The Evolutionary Progress of Nature and the Impact of the Conscious Participation of the Soul - by Submitted on May 10, 2023 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo describes the long, slow process of development of the universal manifestation. There is an evolution of consciousness which takes place over time spanning many millennia, and which does not involve the conscious participation of the individual. At a certain point in time, when the ...
Views: 23 - The Value of Mental, Vital and Physical Progress for Future Births - by Submitted on May 09, 2023 from santosh krinskyOf what possible value is the effort at mental, emotional, vital or physical progress to the soul if it cannot carry that progress forward into the next, and future lives. In his epic poem, Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol, Sri Aurobindo raises the issue: “But the oblivion that succeeds the fall, ...
Views: 23 - The Soul, its Evolutionary Development on Earth and the Universal Manifestation - by Submitted on May 08, 2023 from santosh krinskyIn the ancient text of India, it is said that a human birth is essential for progress, and that even the Gods, if they desire to attain some new development, need to take birth in a human form. It is clear that generally the physical body, the vital nature and the mental development dissolve ...
Views: 23 - When the Fire Has Consumed All Its Fuel - by Submitted on May 07, 2023 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo translates Shwetashwatara Upanishad, Chapter Six, Verse 19: “Who hath neither parts nor works, for He is utterly tranquil, faultless, stainless, therefore He is the one great bridge that carrieth us over to Immortality, even as when a fire hath burnt up all its fuel.” When we ...
Views: 24 - 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: 27 - 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: 27 - The Mental and Vital Formation May Transfer Into a Next Lifetime Under Certain Conditions - by Submitted on May 06, 2023 from santosh krinskyThere are phenomena that are inexplicable under our normal understanding of life and death. The body dissolves, certainly, and the vital being and mental disperse soon thereafter and return into their native planes. Yet we find that occasionally it seems like a particular understanding or ...
Views: 25 - Exploring Rebirth of the Soul into New Bodies and New Lives - by Submitted on May 05, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhile a segment of humanity does not accept the idea of rebirth, choosing instead to either suggest that this one lifetime is the entire frame and limit of an individual’s existence, or else, that after death they will be resurrected to go before a seat of judgment and either be assigned to ...
Views: 27 - The Two Most Powerful Levers to Enter Into Contact with the Divine in One’s Psychic Being - by Submitted on May 04, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhen an individual begins to recognise the existence of his soul, and seeks for a way to come into contact with it, and begin to thereby understand the purpose and significance of his life in the larger creation, the first question that comes to mind is ‘how do I do that?’ This leads to a ...
Views: 26 - The Value of Enthusiasm - by Submitted on May 03, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhen we think about what qualities within ourselves are aids to achieving conscious contact with the psychic being, the soul, we would likely not name ‘enthusiasm’ as one of them. The Mother, however, makes the case for this quality. Those things that motivate us to learn, to expand our ...
Views: 24 - Discovering One’s Role or Mission in Life - by Submitted on May 02, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhen we are fixed in the external personality we take our cues about our role in life from our family, our friends, the social and economic environment and, with that framing, our particular interests and aptitudes. As a child we may want to emulate people in uniforms and thus, may want to be a ...
Views: 30 - How to Use Love to Transform Obstacles and Suffering - by Submitted on May 02, 2023 from Maetreyii Ma NolanAll beings have suffered. Sometimes in life, things go your way; sometimes, they go the opposite—be it physical, mental, or spiritual, be it loss of loved ones, loss of health, or loss of well-being in one form or another. These periods where something difficult happens can be very challenging, ...
Views: 26 - The Maturation of the Soul Across Lifetimes in Fulfillment of Its Evolutionary Role - by Submitted on May 01, 2023 from santosh krinskyThe Maturation of the Soul Across Lifetimes in Fulfillment of Its Evolutionary Role Posted on May 2, 2023 There is a considerable amount of time, amounting to innumerable lifetimes, when the spark of the soul, the psychic being, is subordinated, hidden, virtually unseen and unheard in the ...
Views: 28 - Your Greatest Weakness Identifies Your Greatest Strength - by Submitted on Apr 30, 2023 from santosh krinskyA particular propensity arises through affinity with an energetic flow through a particular energy center, or chakra. If the individual is receptive on that level, he is able to manifest the powers that are at play through that chakra centre. At the same time, it must be recognised that a ...
Views: 29 - The Complex Make-Up of the Human Personalities - by Submitted on Apr 29, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe tend to look on ourselves as being of a specific nature and having a specific personality. We see main lines of understanding, of reaction, and of action and look upon these as ‘who we are’. If we take a closer look, however, we soon begin to see that we are not as simple and homogeneous as ...
Views: 30 - Complex Interaction of the Gunas Can Bring About Opposite Responses from an Individual Under Various Circumstances - by Submitted on Apr 28, 2023 from santosh krinskyAs we take our standpoint primarily in the external nature, we are clearly subject to the action of the three Gunas, or ‘qualities’ of Nature. These qualities do not remain constant and are ever-changing, and they then determine the type of reaction and action an individual has in any particular ...
Views: 35 - The Growth and Evolution of the Soul - by Submitted on Apr 27, 2023 from santosh krinskyMost people are not directly aware of their soul, although it is frequently talked about. There seems to be much confusion. Western scientists have tried to determine the existence of the soul like they would measure particular chemical elements within the body. They weigh the body immediately ...
Views: 29 - 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: 30 - The Growth of the Soul - by Submitted on Apr 25, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe become so used to all of the dark tendencies, hurtful energies and bad faith displayed throughout the world that we sometimes believe that this is the unchanging way that life is meant to be. What we often do not see is the secret evolutionary development of the soul, through time and ...
Views: 32 - Dharma and the Path to Harmony - by Submitted on Apr 24, 2023 from Maetreyii Ma NolanWhen you move on the path of dharma, you move in harmony with your own nature and with the essential nature of all beings. Can you feel those moments when your thoughts, words, and deeds are in harmony with life? When you sense such harmony, such alignment, then you are truly following ...
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