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- Understanding and Persevering Through the Darkness and the Delays in the Process of Spiritual Realisation - by Submitted on May 09, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhen we are confronted with difficulties, we employ several different types of responses, mainly depending on instinct, habit, training and the play of the three Gunas, the qualities of Nature, Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas. Sometimes we respond with more effort, sometimes we lapse into depression and ...
Views: 0 - Addressing Obstacles, Difficulties and Resistances That Arise for the Spiritual Seeker - by Submitted on May 08, 2025 from santosh krinskyTraditionally spiritual paths have developed guidelines and practices that are applied to everyone as set practices. Thus, some people wind up learning particular forms of meditation or concentration, devotion, or dedicated work, or they practice specific forms of hatha yoga, pranayama or other ...
Views: 1 - The Spiritual Seeker and the Material World - by Submitted on May 08, 2025 from santosh krinskyOne of the habits that has built up over many millennia among spiritual practitioners is the ingrained idea that Matter and Spirit are essentially irreconcilable and that in order to pursue the spiritual life one must be willing to give up and abandon the material life. Material life and a focus ...
Views: 1 - Consciousness Exists in Matter and Responds to Caring Good Will - by Submitted on May 06, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhen we look at existence from the point of view of our material consciousness, we tend to treat material things as ‘inanimate objects’ without consciousness. We attribute to plants, and then to animals, increasing levels of conscious awareness and with the advent of the mental consciousness, we ...
Views: 1 - Overcoming Fatigue and Lack of Energy Through Receptivity to the Higher Planes of Consciousness - by Submitted on May 05, 2025 from santosh krinskyPeople who reside in communities adjacent to the beach regularly see visitors stretched out on the sand, ostensibly sleeping while ‘working on their tan’, in some cases for the entire stay of a vacation. When asked, these people indicate that they are taking a well-earned vacation and just want ...
Views: 1 - Overcoming the Tendency to Rehash Past Work or Worry About Future Work - by Submitted on May 05, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe spent a considerable amount of our time rehashing events and actions that are past, analyzing them, worrying about whether we have done things correctly or not, and reflecting on how we might deal with similar events in the future in a better way. We recount what happened during our day to ...
Views: 2 - Finding the Balance Between Activity and Rest - by Submitted on May 03, 2025 from santosh krinskyWith the advent of modern society, the instantaneous technological experience, and an external life that puts a value on being active, being productive, we see the increased pressure for people to stay in motion without taking into account the factor of fatigue and the need for rest. People tend ...
Views: 3 - The Spirit of the Yoga of Works - by Submitted on May 02, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhile we live and act from the standpoint of the individual ego-personality, we measure and respond to everything based on how it impacts us personally and directly, and judge things based on that impact. This leads us to treat as positive, those events and interactions that satisfy our desires, ...
Views: 4 - Shifting the Motive Power of Action from the External Being to the Psychic Being - by Submitted on May 01, 2025 from santosh krinskyFor most people the impulsion to action comes from a need, desire or ambition of some sort. If these are removed, the individual can become depressed and fall into a state that lacks motivation and thereby reduces their energy when it comes to doing anything. We frequently see people, (or ...
Views: 5 - Spiritually Effective Work Depends on the Inner Attitude - by Submitted on Apr 30, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhenever we act in the world, whether it is a job, or any kind of activity that involves the expression of energy in the external world, whether physical, vital, mental, etc. we generally do so with a particular ambition, motivation, desire or need. It could be based on physical needs for food, ...
Views: 6 - Concentration of Conscious Force Through Work Can Bring Deeper Realisations - by Submitted on Apr 29, 2025 from santosh krinskyIn the Taittiriya Upanishad, Sri Aurobindo translates the term tapasya variously as ‘concentration in thought’ or ‘concentration of force’. Elsewhere he aligns the terms chit-shakti as ‘consciousness-force’, co-equal with the principles of sat, existence and ananda, bliss as the supreme ...
Views: 6 - Treating All Work As Karma Yoga - by Submitted on Apr 28, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhen the spiritual aspiration awakens in an individual, he often feels like he has to leave his employment and take up some work that is more ‘spiritual’. He tends to equate the type of work with some ill-defined spiritual nature. Thus, we frequently see spiritual people, and organizations, take ...
Views: 6 - Spiritual Development Can Occur Regardless of One’s Activities in the World - by Submitted on Apr 27, 2025 from santosh krinskyFrom early childhood we are inculcated with the idea of achieving success, becoming foremost and occupying a position of power, prestige or wealth in the world. Parents drum this idea into the mind of their children that they need to study, attain degrees, choose suitable (lucrative) careers, ...
Views: 6 - Self-Dedication to the Divine Through Work - by Submitted on Apr 26, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe ego-personality almost always interprets external activity, work, by an arbitrary measure of value, in many cases, monetary, but in some cases, based on the benefits provided to the society. Religious and spiritual institutions frequently take up work that is considered to be charitable in ...
Views: 6 - The Yoga of Nature, Spiritual Sadhana and the Transformation of Action Into a Conscious Expression of the Divine Will - by Submitted on Apr 25, 2025 from santosh krinskyAll life, our entire existence, whether we are actively involved in a conscious spiritual discipline, or living a ‘normal’ life in the world following the demands of our needs, desires, relationships and ambitions, etc. is a field of growth, experience and develop. We respond to opportunities, ...
Views: 6 - Action According to One’s Own Svabhava and Svadharma - by Submitted on Apr 24, 2025 from santosh krinskyPeople who take up spiritual life frequently believe that they should change their line of work and focus in the external world. In some cases, this is a recognition of the inner being’s guidance as the individual awakens to his true calling. In other cases, however, this is a mistaken belief ...
Views: 6 - How Do We Determine Our Destined Role in the World? — Part 4 - by Submitted on Apr 23, 2025 from santosh krinskyIt is only in still waters that we can see our reflection. Swami Vivekananda in his lectures on Raja Yoga, describes the mind-stuff (chitta), and how impressions, desires, observations and thoughts all disturb the stillness of the mind-stuff. He also describes methods of bringing it to a status ...
Views: 6 - How Do We Determine Our Destined Role in the World? — Part 3 - by Submitted on Apr 22, 2025 from santosh krinskyToday’s world provides people with both an obstacle and an opportunity when they try to follow their chosen or cherished path in life. The obstacle is based on societal requirement that individuals take up a productive form of work in the world to earn enough money to support their needs for ...
Views: 6 - How Do We Determine Our Destined Role in the World? — Part 2 - by Submitted on Apr 21, 2025 from santosh krinskyOne reason we do not have a sense of our purpose or role in the world, generally, is that we do not examine deeply our inner predilections or the trajectory of our lives. We interpret our lives based on external criteria and motives without appreciating that there is another driving force behind ...
Views: 6 - How Do We Determine Our Destined Role in the World? — Part 1 - by Submitted on Apr 20, 2025 from santosh krinskyDannion Brinkley told the story in his book Saved By the Light. He was a mercenary, a hired killer. He was struck by lightning. He was pronounced clinically dead. He returned to life. He knew, at that moment, that he was ‘sent back’ to accomplish a task, a mission. He left behind his prior life ...
Views: 6 - The Inner Being Determines the Formations of the Outer Existence - by Submitted on Apr 20, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe tend to work from the outer to the inner consciousness. We treat the external world as more real and dominant to determine our physical body, our vital nature and our mental development. There is of course a certain amount of truth to this view, inasmuch as the outer and the inner are two ...
Views: 7 - Aligning the External Nature With the Inner Spiritual Aspiration - by Submitted on Apr 18, 2025 from santosh krinskyPeople espousing their philosophy of how to act in the world are often confronted by a disconnect between their statements and their own actions. They frequently tell children, for instance, ‘Do as I say, not as I do.’ If we assume that the person is not simply motivated by pure self-interest ...
Views: 7 - The Greatest Help a Spiritual Seeker Can Give to Others - by Submitted on Apr 17, 2025 from santosh krinskyModern day civilization emphasizes some kind of external 'result' that can be measured. Most frequently this is tied to a monetary value, but the world also appreciates and honors, in some cases, those who do humanitarian work, those who lead countries or fight wars, those who create new ...
Views: 8 - The Radiating Power of an Inner Transformative Force - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2025 from santosh krinskyThere are many methods that have been tried to shift ideas, thoughts, motives and actions in the world. Some of these methods involve subtle, or not so subtle, use of various forms of propagandizing, proselytizing, sermonizing, or dominating others through use of covert or overt force, including ...
Views: 9 - The Way to Help Others - by Submitted on Apr 15, 2025 from santosh krinskyIt is a characteristic trait of the human ego-personality that we easily see faults and issues in others and in external circumstances, that we fail to see within ourselves. But how do we recognise something outside if we have no way to relate to it, if we do not produce the vibrational pattern ...
Views: 9 - Weakness of Limitation or the Power of Omnipotence Depends on the Status of Consciousness - by Submitted on Apr 15, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhen we are feeling weak or limited, we become unhappy, we react with frustration and are discontented with our lot. We feel in many cases oppressed by circumstances. We can become depressed if things are not going the way we expect or want them to go. We can become angry with ourselves, with ...
Views: 8 - The Status of Consciousness Where One Can See Things as They Are - by Submitted on Apr 13, 2025 from santosh krinskyAs long as an individual is rooted in his own ego-standpoint, he sees and interprets things from that standpoint and cannot, by definition, ‘see things as they are’ in the wider creation. There is the famous story of 5 different observers of a traffic accident, each one observing from a ...
Views: 9 - Observing, Controlling and Transforming the Forces That Create our Vital and Mental Actions - by Submitted on Apr 12, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe physical body and the sense of separateness that it creates for us acts both as a limitation and as a protection from the action of the energies and forces that are constantly moving in the universal creation and setting up vibrational patterns to which we may respond. The physical body ...
Views: 11 - Is Every Man Capable of ‘Sinful Behavior” Under Certain Circumstances? - by Submitted on Apr 11, 2025 from santosh krinskyCultured and educated people often believe that they could not stoop to certain actions or be guilty of certain motives in their actions, or simply react to circumstances in a way other than that of their predominant mental view of themselves. They may look down on those who appear to them to be ...
Views: 11 - Finding the Right Balance and Spirit in Management - by Submitted on Apr 10, 2025 from santosh krinskyThere is an art to management of people within a company, department or section. Those who are tasked with undertaking this responsibility frequently find it challenging to get the exact right balance to both motivate their team members and keep things moving smoothly forward. If they are too ...
Views: 14 - Distinguishing an Attitude of Equality From One of Indifference - by Submitted on Apr 07, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe mental framework frequently wants to find an “either/or” option rather than looking at the nuance needed to resolve multiple views of pending questions. Thus, when we are asked to consider achieving a poise of equality in the face of provocation of any sort, positive or negative, we will ...
Views: 14 - A Change of Consciousness Is Required for a Change in Human Society - by Submitted on Apr 06, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhen we look back at the history of human civilization, we can see that many ideas have been attempted to try to develop a fair, balanced and prosperous society. Thinkers, philosophers, political scientists and economists have all weighed in with their dreams and considerations about how to ...
Views: 15 - 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: 14 - The Need to Maintain Calm Equality in One’s Relation to the Circumstances of Life - by Submitted on Apr 03, 2025 from santosh krinskySomeone says or does something we do not like or which we find offensive. They may do things to harm our reputation or our relationships, or they may affect our financial well being, possibly cheat us or interfere with our lives in some other way. The natural reaction is one of anger, even ...
Views: 15 - External Interactions Provide the Seeker a Mirror to His Inner Characteristics and Traits - by Submitted on Apr 02, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhat we see in others in many cases is a mirror to what we contain within ourselves. We understand what is taking place because we are able to receive the vibration and internalize it and translate it into something that resonates in our being. In Western psychology there is a concept called ...
Views: 17 - The Parable of the Mote and the Beam and Its Relevance for the Spiritual Seeker - by Submitted on Apr 01, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe spiritual seeker often finds that he can see weaknesses and faults in others. If he fails to recognise that his reaction may be due to harboring those faults and weaknesses within himself, he can take an attitude of hostility toward the other person who is exhibiting those things. He may try ...
Views: 17 - A Positive Focus Is More Productive Than a Negative Fixation for Spiritual Growth - by Submitted on Mar 31, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe go wherever we focus our attention. If we focus our attention on difficulties, we wallow in those difficulties. If we focus our attention on growth and development, then we draw to ourselves those opportunities that support that growth. There are examples. Certain traditions make the rooting ...
Views: 17 - Humility and Self-Confidence - by Submitted on Mar 30, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe play of the three Gunas is active at all times in the life we live here. We may believe that the aspiration, or an act of consecration overcomes this play, but if we examine closely we can see that, in actuality, even the quality of our sadhana, our spiritual effort, is very much controlled ...
Views: 18 - The Need for Patience and Perseverance - by Submitted on Mar 29, 2025 from santosh krinskyIn today’s modern societies, people expect instant results. They want things to be fast and easy. They respond to ads claiming they can lose weight easily in a few days’ time. They want deliveries from stores to be overnight, if not ‘same day’. They would prefer to receive their enlightenment ...
Views: 20 - Balancing the Spiritual Practice Between Positive Focus and Addressing Faults and Weaknesses - by Submitted on Mar 28, 2025 from santosh krinskyThere is a tendency among human beings to react with extremes. Something is either ‘yes’ or ‘no’. ‘black’ or ‘white’, ‘positive’ or ‘negative’. This occurs due to the linear nature of the mental consciousness aided by a vital nature that wants to assert itself by being ‘right’. For the ...
Views: 19 - Praise, Criticism and Comparing Oneself With Others - by Submitted on Mar 27, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe vital nature generally craves praise and becomes upset with criticism. This habit has been increased by the rise of social media with the ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ that appear on various posts, videos and blogs. People work hard to increase their ‘likes’ and ‘followers’ and make that almost an ...
Views: 21 - Addressing the Tendency to Overlook One’s Defects - by Submitted on Mar 26, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe vital nature in particular has a strong hold over the mentality. It uses this hold to find ways for the mind to justify various things that the vital desires. In many cases this occurs through a process of deflection and in others through a process of development of excuses and ...
Views: 21 - Becoming Aware of Our Faults Is the First Step Toward Overcoming Them - by Submitted on Mar 25, 2025 from santosh krinskyIt is difficult for an individual to see his own shortcomings or faults. Many times we see them reflected in others and we externalise them to such a degree that we take exception to the other person, not recognising that we are seeing our own faults displayed in front of us. If we have a ...
Views: 24 - The Change in Standpoint That Puts the Seeker in Harmony With the Divine and its Intention in the Universal Manifestation - by Submitted on Mar 24, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe frequently hear people complaining about how they are locked into and trapped in the lives they are leading. They feel like there is nothing they can do and nothing can change it. This was exemplified in a motion picture called ‘Groundhog Day’ which told the story of an individual who ...
Views: 26 - The Path Is Fulfilled Through the Cultivation of Inward and Outward Peace - by Submitted on Mar 22, 2025 from santosh krinskyIt is a frequent occurrence. Someone takes up the spiritual path and tries to follow the dictates set forth in that path, down to the smallest detail. They treat goals and aspiration as a type of ‘rule-book’ that needs to be followed. If, as is to be expected, they do not succeed in each such ...
Views: 26 - The Soul’s Aspiration for Adherence to the Divine Will in Manifestation - by Submitted on Mar 21, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe most direct way to align oneself with the Divine Will is to treat the soul, the psychic being, as the standpoint from which the being takes its stance. This is not a mental analysis, a desire of the vital or a physical need or impulsion; rather it takes the form of an aspiration, a prayer, a ...
Views: 24 - The Process for Gaining Equality in the Face of Outer Circumstances - by Submitted on Mar 19, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe question of how to achieve the status of inner equality to all outward circumstances is one that occupies the attention of spiritual seekers everywhere. In his book Bases of Yoga, Sri Aurobindo devotes the first chapter to the questions of achieving calm, peace and equality, as these are ...
Views: 26 - The Need to Achieve a Calm Equality Not Shaken By Outward Happenings - by Submitted on Mar 18, 2025 from santosh krinskyIf we examine our reactions to circumstances that occur daily in our lives, we will see we generally go through a range of feelings from elation when something we deem positive occurs, to depression when it seems like the house is falling in on us. Major events, such as achievements in school, ...
Views: 28 - The Sometimes Fortunate Nature of Misfortune - by Submitted on Mar 17, 2025 from santosh krinskyOne of the core principles of spiritual growth is the development of ‘equality’ in the sense of accepting whatever comes into one’s life with equanimity. This does not mean that the proper standpoint excludes action against injustice or oppression; rather, that one recognises that sometimes the ...
Views: 28 - Ideal Expectations, Real Life Results and Divine Grace - by Submitted on Mar 16, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe think and plan and harbor expectations as if we are the sole arbiter of what happens in our lives. We then judge the results from the standpoint of our ideal expectations and express either dismay or disappointment that what we hoped for has not come to pass. What we frequently fail to take ...
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