Self Improvement Site
On The Internet! Take the Self Improvement Tour
On The Internet! Take the Self Improvement Tour
Self Knowledge Articles
We are currently looking for an Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to "Self Knowledge". If you have expertise in Self Knowledge and your own website and/or product for this topic, please review this form for complete details. The Official Guide Position is part of our Premium Placement Package
- Understanding the Defense Mechanism of Rationalization - by Submitted on Apr 11, 2022 from santosh krinskyWe can clearly see the influence of the vital on the mind when we understand the lengths to which the mind will go to justify satisfaction of the needs, desires or actions of the vital nature. The defense mechanism of ‘rationalization’ is a clear example. We understand, intellectually, that ...
Views: 487 - OM, the Mantra and the Use of Mantra in the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Jul 11, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe ancient Mandukya Upanishad describes OM in considerable detail as the sound-body of the Universe: “OM is this imperishable Word, OM is the Universe, and this is the exposition of OM. The past, the present and the future, all that was, all that is, all that will be, is OM. Likewise all else ...
Views: 486 - The Risks and Difficulties of Eliminating Lower Drives Through Purposeful Indulgence, Part 1 - by Submitted on Nov 17, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe idea of overcoming lower drives and desires of the vital, or that stem from the physical or the subconscient, through indulgence in a purposeful way is an enticing one, particularly to the vital nature, which can use this excuse to convince the mind to fulfill the myriad of powerful desires ...
Views: 486 - The Test of Yogic Equality - by Submitted on Jun 02, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe setting of Sri Krishna’s teaching to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, symbolizing the ‘battle of life’ is an essential message to all who seek to progress in their spiritual growth and development. We do not normally associate a battlefield as the place to learn about our spiritual ...
Views: 486 - “Yoga Made Easy?” - by Submitted on Nov 22, 2021 from santosh krinskyThere is no way to achieve “instant” yogic realisation. There is no automatic technique, there is no pill one can take to suddenly become enlightened. The sages ensured that we understand the needed patience, persistence and efforts required in the various accounts of realised souls and how they ...
Views: 486 - A Settled Peace in the Being and a Fixed Resolution in the Mind Aid in the Transformation of the Vital - by Submitted on Oct 30, 2021 from santosh krinskyIn ancient Greek mythology, there is the tale of the 12 labours of Hercules, one of which was cleaning out the Augean stables. He needed to accomplish this task in one day, but there were so many cattle that it was considered an impossible task. And every day the mess was renewed after the ...
Views: 485 - Issues in the Establishment of Equanimity and Peace in the Being - by Submitted on Feb 01, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe have long-established instincts that harken back to the animal kingdom, in what we may call the “fight or flight” response. This instinct is deeply embedded and lies at the root of one of the biggest obstacles to achieving calm and peace in the being. Every impulse we receive from outside ...
Views: 485 - Psychic Self-Defense - by Submitted on Feb 14, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe true test of spiritual equanimity and balance is how one responds to adverse circumstances. It is relatively easy to be calm and peaceful when there is no external pressure and one is surrounded by a quiet and nourishing environment. It is quite another to remain focused, balanced and equal ...
Views: 485 - The Basis for Developing the Silence of the Mind - by Submitted on May 16, 2021 from santosh krinskyIn today’s world, we tend to value those processes of mind, life and body which focus on the elements of success in the outer life. We educate children to remember facts of the past, to learn basic mathematics, and rules of grammar and spelling. We train students on how to utilize and implement ...
Views: 485 - The Gunas and the Seeker’s Relation to Material Objects in the Practice of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Jun 09, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe action of the three gunas, qualities of nature, is often overlooked in our understanding of how things take place in the world, including in our spiritual growth; yet, these qualities permeate all activity and an appreciation of them helps the witness consciousness observing the actions of ...
Views: 485 - The Three Gunas and Spiritual Practice - by Submitted on Nov 28, 2021 from santosh krinskySpiritual aspirants, just as all others in the world, are impacted by the play of the three Gunas the qualities of Nature. These qualities are always in movement, constantly combining, jostling one another, becoming predominant, and then being suppressed as the next movement arises. We can see ...
Views: 485 - Art and Intellectual Development Are Not Essentially Spiritual Pursuits - by Submitted on Mar 18, 2022 from santosh krinskyWe tend to confuse artistic and various intellectual pursuits as somehow being spiritual accomplishments. These are, however, developments of the higher emotional and mental spheres to a great degree, except when they are channeling energies of the lower vital levels of our being, which, in ...
Views: 484 - How to Eliminate Desire Without Suppression - by Submitted on Jul 17, 2022 from santosh krinskyHow do we experience desire? For some, it comes as a drive to possess something we experience in the world, whether something seen, heard, felt, etc. In other words, desire begins with something perceptible by our senses. In the past, this was therefore something close at hand. Nowadays, with ...
Views: 484 - Peace in the Body’s Cells Can Cure Illness - by Submitted on May 03, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhen we conjure up, in our minds, the idea of peace, we tend to give it a form of inaction, a ‘negative’ status. Similarly, peace to our vital nature is the absence of excitement or any form of energetic expression. For the body, we believe peace is a state of quietness that does not ‘do’ ...
Views: 484 - Responding to the Consciousness in Material Objects - by Submitted on Jun 09, 2021 from santosh krinskyIn The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo describes several standpoints that highlight the relationship between human beings and the material world. The “refusal of the ascetic” simply rejects the material world and does not put any focus or interest in it. The “materialist denial” accepts the physical ...
Views: 484 - The Process of Bringing About Change at the Subconscious Level of Our Being - by Submitted on Nov 20, 2021 from santosh krinskyAnyone who has taken up the practice of meditation is familiar with the attempt to quiet the mind and not pay attention to thoughts that arise during the process, letting them drift through without being followed or amplified in any way. One quickly realises during the process that we tend to ...
Views: 484 - Wise Reminders From Aristotle - by Submitted on May 09, 2022 from Scott & Stephen PetulloAristotle (384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher taught by Plato. He wrote about many subjects and his philosophy continues to heavily influence almost every form of knowledge in the West. Below are words of wisdom from Aristotle. "Be a free thinker and don't accept everything you hear ...
Views: 484 - Habits, Cravings, Addictions and the Subconscient - by Submitted on Aug 25, 2022 from santosh krinskyOne of the big issues that all people face is dealing with cravings, habits and addictions and their effects in their lives. The mechanism at work here is not based on conscious decision-making, but on impulses, feelings and pulls that occur subconsciously, whether in the mind, the vital being, ...
Views: 483 - How to Recognise and Respond to the Higher Guidance in Work - by Submitted on Jun 01, 2021 from santosh krinskyWe are trained to think and act from the viewpoint of the ego-personality. When we take up the practice of integral yoga, however, we understand that the standpoint of action must shift so that we can become true instruments of the higher action of the divine force which is working to transform ...
Views: 483 - The Transformation of the Mind - by Submitted on Oct 16, 2021 from santosh krinskyit is typical of the mental intelligence to believe that reading and remembering something implies that we have realised the truth of what we have read. Those who have taken the time to reflect on this make it clear that ‘reading a book about swimming’ does not mean one knows how to swim! ...
Views: 483 - English Medium School in Noida - by Submitted on Jan 18, 2020 from Saurabh GuptaEnglish Medium School in Noida is the very first institution that brings children from different walks of life together and teaches them to march hand-in-hand for mutual benevolence. Therefore, any sense of equality, be it economic or gender-related, begins from school, and schools have a ...
Views: 482 - Six Recommendations for Speech and Social Relationships - by Submitted on Feb 20, 2022 from santosh krinskySpeech not only can affect one’s own energy, but it can also affect one’s relationship with others and the dynamics of a social relationship and a community. For the most part, people tend to speak whatever comes to them without a great deal (if any) reflection. This practice however can have ...
Views: 482 - The Risks and Difficulties of Eliminating Lower Drives Through Purposeful Indulgence, Part 2 - by Submitted on Nov 20, 2021 from santosh krinskyDealing with deeply embedded drives of the subconscient and the lower vital through raising them up and indulging in them not only contains risks that one may fall into a deeper pattern of habitual response, but also can be a pretext for the vital enjoyment of the action with a veneer to ...
Views: 482 - Understanding and Overcoming Obstacles That Obstruct the Psychic Opening - by Submitted on Sep 09, 2021 from santosh krinskyIf human nature can be changed, it has to be at the place where motives and impulsions affect the understanding and the action. The sadhana thus entails a review of the wellsprings of thought and action, and a refusal of the drives and motives of the desire soul of the vital nature. Many times ...
Views: 482 - The Call to the Spiritual Path - by Submitted on Nov 29, 2022 from santosh krinskyIf we look at the individual life as separate from the rest of the creation, and claim that it starts at birth and ends at death, there seems to be no rationale or meaning for that life, nor can we explain the evolutionary progression of awareness, understanding, growth, and development that we ...
Views: 481 - The Need to Remain Undisturbed by Outer Circumstances - by Submitted on May 20, 2021 from santosh krinskyOne of the great obstacles to the reception and activation of the higher forces of consciousness are the pre-existing habits of action and reaction in the mind-life-body complex. We are constantly pulled in one direction or another, we react to events and circumstances from our narrow ...
Views: 481 - The Soul’s Journey Through Life, Death and Rebirth - by Submitted on Mar 05, 2022 from santosh krinskyOne level of the deep ignorance within which we live and act is our bondage to the specific individual life, personality and situation that we inhabit. We are generally unaware of anything prior to our birth or which occurs after our death. Some even take the view that there is no “meaning” and ...
Views: 481 - The Source and Cause of Illness - by Submitted on Jan 28, 2022 from santosh krinskyWestern medical science holds that illness has several potential causes. Failing to digest food properly is one such cause. Stress on the body and its organ systems is another. A third is failure to obtain proper nutrition or fluids. Aging is considered a contributing factor in the breakdown of ...
Views: 481 - What Does Sri Aurobindo Mean by Transformation of the Nature? - by Submitted on Sep 11, 2021 from santosh krinskyIn setting forth a goal of transformation of the nature through the advent of the spiritual consciousness and the supramental level, Sri Aurobindo goes beyond the goals of other traditional spiritual paths which have ‘liberation’ as the goal. He describes the impact of each new manifestation of ...
Views: 481 - Eligibility criteria for bba in ip university - by Submitted on Feb 11, 2020 from Saurabh GuptaEligibility criteria for bba in ip university in delhi LLDIMS is one of the best bba college in delhi ncr Students can learn from any university in the world and information now knows no boundaries. Naturally, its impact has spread over to the teaching profession as well as modern-day ...
Views: 480 - The Process of Turning Work into Yogic Practice - by Submitted on May 28, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe Bhagavad Gita proclaims that ‘yoga is skill in works’. The type of focused concentrated effort that comes about through a yogic practice is an essential aspect of completing any task skillfully. It does not imply, however, that all ‘skill in works’ is necessarily yoga, unless by that one ...
Views: 480 - Disturbances of the Vital Caused by Life-Changes, Negative and Positive - by Submitted on Apr 19, 2022 from santosh krinskySome years ago we were witnesses to an event that clearly illustrated the disturbance to the vital that can be caused by a positive experience. In that case, a married couple were planning to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary and their extended family and friends were there to join the ...
Views: 479 - The Greek Temperament and the Roman Temperament in the Practice of Yoga - by Submitted on Feb 13, 2022 from santosh krinskyWe observe some individuals who have an obvious connection to the life-energy and who have a sensitivity and responsiveness to life that allows them to experience the fullness of life. We also observe individuals who appear more restrained, self-contained, and less subject to the life around ...
Views: 479 - 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: 479 - 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: 479 - 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: 478 - Two Options for the Seeker to Eliminate Desire - by Submitted on Dec 27, 2021 from santosh krinskyWhen the spiritual aspirant hears that he must eliminate desire from his consciousness, he frequently takes this as a message of ‘renunciation’ and thereby determines to live an isolated life free from the efforts involved in living in the world and interacting within the societal framework. ...
Views: 478 - 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: 477 - Identifying and Overcoming the Resistance of the Tamasic and Rajasic Egos - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe action of the three Gunas pervades and permeates all action including our response to obstacles, setbacks and concerns that arise during the practice of Yoga. When Tamas is predominant it sends out thoughts and ideas of weakness, failure and limitation. When Rajas is in the ascendent it ...
Views: 477 - The True Nature of Rest - by Submitted on May 10, 2022 from santosh krinskyFor most people, rest is a state of lowered consciousness in which we recuperate from the fatigue generated through our various activities. If we reflect on how we respond to fatigue, we find that we have different modes depending on whether it is mental fatigue, vital exhaustion or physical ...
Views: 477 - Characteristics of the Body Consciousness - by Submitted on Apr 08, 2022 from santosh krinskyImagine we had to manage all the functions of the body through conscious attention by the mind, telling the body how to operate each organ, controlling each breath and heartbeat, controlling the energy production activities in the cells, etc. It would be clearly impossible. We depend entirely on ...
Views: 476 - Desire — and the Need to Control Desire - by Submitted on Apr 20, 2022 from santosh krinskyPeople believe that suppression of the vital forces that are actuated by the force of desire can lead to imbalance and mental illness. For this reason, Western psychology has recommended the moderate expression of these forces, and has generally counseled having a healthy vital life that does ...
Views: 476 - The Most Effective Method for Achieving Detachment - by Submitted on May 30, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhen one works to develop the consciousness of the witness, Purusha, observing the Nature, Prakriti the progress comes generally over time with repeated persistent and patient effort. Consider for a moment going through one’s own life observing but not reacting internally. If we observe even a ...
Views: 476 - The Need to Shift the Consciousness Beyond the Ego - by Submitted on Feb 27, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe ego-consciousness has its evolutionary purpose. The distinction of the individual from the mass of existence led to the ability to move beyond the instinctual and habitual patterns of the species. With this consciousness, variation and innovation became more easily possible. Observation from ...
Views: 476 - How to Change One’s Nature - by Submitted on Aug 30, 2022 from santosh krinskyAs the awareness develops of the influences that have shaped our character and active nature from our ancestors, our parents, as well as the influences from our peers and from the society at large, we begin to develop a respect for the complexity of the task and the reasons why we cannot simply ...
Views: 475 - The Need to Maintain Balance Between Waking, Dream and Sleep Consciousness - by Submitted on Aug 27, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe operation of the Gunas of nature, Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas is noticeable in the spiritual quest as in everything else. The result is that when something new or exciting occurs, it tends to provoke the rising of Rajas and an attempt to grasp and enhance the ego-gratification of the event. ...
Views: 475 - 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: 474 - The Origin of Joy - by Submitted on Jul 01, 2022 from santosh krinskyThere is a difference between ‘joy’ and ‘enjoyment’. Enjoyment is a more or less passive state, such as when we enjoy some form of entertainment. Joy, on the other hand, is an active status, which rises spontaneously through involvement and action. If we observe children, we see that they ...
Views: 474 - Relationship Among Sadhaks in an Ashram Community - by Submitted on Feb 03, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe history of spiritual and religious communities has witnessed numerous approaches to interpersonal relationships. For the most part, monasteries, cloisters or ashrams have tried to focus the attention of their members by maintaining strict rules, in many cases including vows of silence, ...
Views: 473 - The Nature of the Subconscient - by Submitted on Nov 13, 2021 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo utilizes the term ‘subconscient’ to signify a level of consciousness that operates below the range within which the normal human awareness is operable. We may look at consciousness as a spectrum similar to what we know of the properties of the electro-magnetic spectrum or the color ...
Views: 473