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- Spirituality: What It Is Not, and What It is - by Submitted on Nov 28, 2022 from santosh krinskyWe frequently hear people speaking about spirituality. They indicate ‘I consider myself to be spiritual, not religious.’ Beyond that distinction, however, when one asks what they mean by ‘spirituality’ there is a wide range of responses that make it clear that spirituality is mostly something ...
Views: 357 - Aids in Attaining Spiritual Realisation: the Scripture and the Guru - by Submitted on Jan 01, 2023 from santosh krinskyA written scripture or teaching may help direct the focus of the mind and the heart toward the realisation to be gained. No book, however, can replace the experience, and an intellectual understanding does not constitute spiritual knowledge. Spiritual experience comes through receptivity to the ...
Views: 356 - 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: 356 - The Complexity and Difficulty of Achieving Complete Sincerity in the Spiritual Path - by Submitted on Dec 23, 2022 from santosh krinskySincerity is not as simple as believing in and meaning what we say to others. This is what we ordinarily consider to be sincerity. Sri Aurobindo and the Mother have a much more far-reaching idea of sincerity relating to the practice of yoga in the furtherance of spiritual growth. Sincerity ...
Views: 356 - The Value of Mental Preparation for the Practice of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Jan 06, 2023 from santosh krinskyThe mind can be a powerful tool for spiritual growth, or it can become an obstacle under certain circumstances. Many devotees take the position that aspiration, devotion, surrender to the Divine is the only way forward. For those individuals that may indeed be true. Not everyone is capable of ...
Views: 356 - The Intermediate Zone and Its Dangers - by Submitted on Apr 12, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe see many examples through time of individuals who began a spiritual quest with good intention and who later came to grief as they got caught up in the snares of what Sri Aurobindo calls the ‘intermediate zone’. When we leave behind the safety and security of the external consciousness and its ...
Views: 355 - The Subtle Planes Are Causative to the External Physical Reality - by Submitted on Sep 01, 2023 from santosh krinskyIn the Taittiriya Upanishad, a seeker undertakes a discipline to discover the truth of existence. He first lands upon the idea thta the material existence is the truth, as it is the basis and foundation of his existence. As he continues his concentration, however, he begins to realize that the ...
Views: 355 - 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: 355 - How to Convert Mental Seeking into Living Spiritual Experience - by Submitted on Jan 29, 2023 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo describes the first step to move from a mental seeking to a living spiritual experience as “the practice of concentration of your consciousness within yourself.” We ask what this means exactly. Some observation of our mental state discloses what we normally consider to be ...
Views: 354 - Risks and Difficulties Attendant on the Practice of a Yoga of Transformation - by Submitted on Mar 17, 2023 from santosh krinskyPeople tend to underestimate the risks and difficulties attendant on the practice of yoga, with a focus on the growth of consciousness and transformation of human nature. Once the seeker begins to try to make changes in long-standing habits of action and reaction, mental predilictions, vital ...
Views: 354 - The Essence of Karma Yoga — the Yoga of Works - by Submitted on Mar 01, 2023 from santosh krinskyHumanity has relied on social action, technology, and education as pillars of advancement and the development of humanity. Yet if we examine things closely we find that we are still driven primarily by the forces of ego and desire, even when they cloak themselves in a veneer of altruism or ...
Views: 354 - Purification of the Being Is More Essential Than Extraordinary Spiritual Experiences - by Submitted on Jan 20, 2023 from santosh krinskyThe vital nature revels in having extraordinary experiences that arise as a result of spiritual practice or some type of opening to other planes of being. These experiences support the ego, making the individual feel special, uniquely qualified and selected for spiritual progress, and they are ...
Views: 353 - 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: 353 - Cognitive Bias and Occult Experiences - by Submitted on Apr 06, 2023 from santosh krinskyWestern psychology has investigated the impact of subtle forms of bias on what and how we perceive things, and how we interpret what we perceive. An individual’s cognitive bias subtly influences what he believes has occurred, and various people, witnessing the same event, but coming from ...
Views: 352 - 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: 352 - he Three Gunas, Their Role in the Difficulties and Obstacles in the Yogic Development, and the Certainty of Success When the Divine Call is Present - by Submitted on Mar 15, 2023 from santosh krinskyThe importance of the rule of the 3 Gunas, the qualities of Nature, cannot be over-emphasized. Each of these qualities has both its positive aspects and its downsides, and they are functional in all life. They are continually in fluctuation and intermix with one another to create the events and ...
Views: 351 - The Beginning of Liberation from the Limitations of the Mental Consciousness - by Submitted on Dec 12, 2022 from santosh krinskyAs long as the mental consciousness remains insulated within its own range of awareness, it believes it has a power of knowledge and action that can be made practically infallible. Even when its shortcomings are made patently obvious, it believes that an improvement in its processes, or the ...
Views: 349 - The Greatest Difficulties Signal the Greatest Strength for the Yogic Practitioner - by Submitted on Mar 22, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhen an individual is called to the yoga of transformation, he comes with all of his strengths, weaknesses, developed and latent capacities, and habitual ways of dealing with things, as well as his familial, social, economic and educational background. These frame the starting point for the ...
Views: 349 - Purity from the Moral Standpoint or the Spiritual Standpoint - by Submitted on Jan 22, 2023 from santosh krinskyIn the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna poses the question to Sri Krishna as to how to identify the realised soul, asking how does he act, how does he speak, etc. Sri Krishna responds that it is not through outer action that one can identify the liberated individual, as this is something that can only be ...
Views: 348 - 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 ...
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Views: 347 - Endurance and Persistence Is Essential for the Change of Consciousness Aimed for in the Yogic Practice - by Submitted on Mar 30, 2023 from santosh krinskyMany people have the mistaken idea that taking up a spiritual practice is somehow due to weakness or inability to deal with the tough conditions of the outer world. They envision seekers retreating from the world and living in a monastey, cloister or ashram, being sheltered from the worst things ...
Views: 347 - Habitual Responses and the Process of Auto-Suggestion Arising from the Action of the Subconscious Level - by Submitted on Mar 30, 2024 from santosh krinskyThere is a complex interaction between the external mind-life-body complex and the subconscious level of our existence. As we experience various things in our lives, including illness, accidents or various circumstances, our mind tries to build a pattern of recognition and develops a memory. ...
Views: 347 - How to Change One’s Consciousness, Part 2: Following the Clues to Spiritual Awakening Within - by Submitted on Dec 07, 2022 from santosh krinskyWe rightly recognise that memory is not the same as a living experience. Yet, the power of memory holds a key for those who wish to undertake spiritual development. We see this in the context of religious and spiritual pursuits that rely on the power of memory in some form to renew and actualise ...
Views: 346 - The Formation of Human Nature and the Character of the Individual and the Basis of the Resistance to Change - by Submitted on Mar 14, 2023 from santosh krinskyA yogic practice focus on transformation of human nature must necessarily address issues differently than one that has ‘liberation’ as its sole goal. This brings in the need for an understanding of the human instrument, the various elements of the being, the development of those elements through ...
Views: 346 - The Seven Rays of the Infinite - by Submitted on Apr 09, 2023 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo starts the review of the Knowledge and the Ignorance by reminding us of the sevenfold principles of existence: “In our scrutiny of the seven principles of existence it was found that they are one in their essential and fundamental reality: for if even the matter of the most ...
Views: 346 - The Subconscient Is the Repository of Habits and Atavistic Behaviour That Must Be Cleared During the Yogic Process - by Submitted on Apr 02, 2024 from santosh krinskyWe bring into this life many propensities as well as genetic tendencies, which are compounded and accentuated by early learning that takes place in the family and in the society. Prenatal influences as well as learning that takes place after the birth process and in the very early childhood ...
Views: 346 - An Overview of the Intermediate Zone and Ways the Seeker Can Safely Maneuver Through It - by Submitted on Apr 11, 2023 from santosh krinskyAs the seeker begins to shift the consciousness inward, he becomes aware of forces, powers, and realms that are the native venues for our physical, vital and mental energies and activities, as well as existing in and by their own form of reality and under rules that do not necessarily match up ...
Views: 345 - How to Make Progress in the Practice of Karma Yoga - by Submitted on Mar 05, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe tend to be carried away by the external focus in the work we are doing, and thus, the presence of mind needed to remember and offer is set in the background of our awareness. If we reflect on the state of consciousness we experience when focused on some external work, we soon find that we can ...
Views: 345 - Sincerity Is the Only Protection in the Development of the Spiritual Life - by Submitted on Dec 22, 2022 from santosh krinskyIf we consider what the most important quality is for progress in spiritual growth, we generally come up with a number of different ideas, including devotion, strong mind or will, faith, dedication, aspiration. We rarely name ‘sincerity’ as the quality most required. Yet, the Mother stresses the ...
Views: 345 - 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: 345 - The Seven Forms of Knowledge - by Submitted on Apr 09, 2023 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo concludes that once we have defined the seven forms of Ignorance, our aim and goal in our human lives must be to successively overcome the Ignorance through the development of the sevenfold forms of knowledge. Each aspect of the knowledge we develop addresses one of the already ...
Views: 345 - Even a Brief Glimpse of the Spirit Is Sufficient to Direct the Seeker to the Spiritual Path - by Submitted on Dec 03, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhen an individual turns his attention to the spiritual path, he may experience along the way certain doubts as to his suitability, his capacity, and his ability to attain the truth described by those who have experience along the path and who describe various steps and stages. The way is long ...
Views: 344 - Integral Purification of All Parts of the Being Is a First Preparation for the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Jan 19, 2023 from santosh krinskyIn the context of the practice of yoga, purification is not the enforcement of some kind of moral code or precepts. This is a common perception based on religious tenets that have abounded through the ages that set forth a moral code and try to both control the actions of people and judge them ...
Views: 344 - Transformative Spiritual Experiences - by Submitted on Apr 03, 2023 from santosh krinskyAs consciousness develops in the seeker, it clearly brings with it changes in the way the seeker perceives and understands and reactions to events, situations, people, opportunities, etc. What is often forgotten is that it is not the extraordinary and massive experiences that effectuate ...
Views: 344 - Untying the Knot of the Ego-Consciousness - by Submitted on Jun 26, 2023 from santosh krinskyAs long as an individual is locked within a framework of understanding, he is unable to truly recognise or exceed the limits of that framework. The ego-consciousness is such a frame of awareness. It creates the sense of a separate individual, apart and having his own autonomy in ...
Views: 344 - What Are Spiritual Experiences? - by Submitted on Apr 08, 2023 from santosh krinskyIn our normal human lives, we live in an externally focused standpoint and we create a distinction between ‘objective reality’ and ‘subjective reality’. Because we are so dependent on the body-life-mind complex and its relation to the outer world, we tend to assign a greater truth and reality to ...
Views: 344 - Four Instruments for Attaining the Perfection of the Practice of Yoga - by Submitted on Dec 13, 2022 from santosh krinskyPeople frequently seek for a very specific, directed form of practice which will provide liberation and spiritual perfection. They ask ‘what is the best form of practice’? Sri Aurobindo takes a much more flexible approach which is based on the need and development of the individual practitioner, ...
Views: 343 - The Development of the Spiritual Focus Over Time - by Submitted on Dec 02, 2022 from santosh krinskyWe tend to measure success or failure in terms of specific results we see in our relatively short, individual lifetime, based on our preconceived or societally sanctioned ideas about what constitutes success or failure. When it comes to progress in spiritual development, however, this is not ...
Views: 343 - The Role of Spiritual Experiences in the Change of Human Nature - by Submitted on Apr 15, 2023 from santosh krinskyThe vital ego is attracted to the excitement of having experiences that are unusual or powerful. It therefore wants to find ways to repeat or expand upon them once they have had such an experience. In reality, however, there is very little of long-term value in this approach. The experiences ...
Views: 343 - 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: 342 - Occult Powers and the Spiritual Sadhana - by Submitted on Apr 05, 2023 from santosh krinskyIn his lectures on Raja Yoga, in the chapter titled “Powers”, Swami Vivekananda explains how various occult powers arise or can be developed. The process is an extension of the preceding efforts of purification, quieting of the ‘mind stuff’ and then gaining the ability to fix the concentration ...
Views: 342 - What’s the Use of Seeking to Have Spiritual Experiences? - by Submitted on Apr 02, 2023 from santosh krinskyPutting aside the ‘allurement factor’ of having some kind of special, unusual, extraordinary type of experience, which is clearly a way to feed the ego-personality, we come to the actual benefits of such experiences. There are cases where an individual is leading a perfectly ordinary life in the ...
Views: 342 - Work, Devotion, Meditation and the Practice of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Mar 06, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhatever the predominant aspect of the individual nature, the spiritual aspiration seizes upon that as the leading power to carry the sadhana forward. Nevertheless, at some point, it is important to recognize both the value and the necessity of the other aspects for what is after all an integral ...
Views: 342 - 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: 341 - Unifying the Entire Being Around the Aspiration for the Divine - by Submitted on Jun 27, 2023 from santosh krinskyA spiritual seeker identifies with his aspiration and the focus and actions that come about as a result of that aspiration. It may be acts of prayer, acts of giving, acts of consecration, acts of meditation, or dedicated works. During the moments that he is engaged in these acts, he feels like ...
Views: 341 - 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: 340 - Illumined Mind - by Submitted on Jun 15, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhen we study the functioning of the mind, we see that the essential nature is one that can receive sense perceptions, analyze, organize and then subject the objects so developed to a process of reasoning using systematic application of rules of logic. We can also see a process of recall of ...
Views: 339 - The Reality of Worlds of Existence Other than the Physical World - by Submitted on Jul 04, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe have a strong bias in favor of accepting things that we can perceive with our physical senses, and we tend to disbelieve or discount anything that is not directly, physically available to our experience. Yet if we reflect on the totality of our life experience, it becomes clear that there are ...
Views: 339 - Organizing One’s Life Around a Central Aspiration - by Submitted on Jun 29, 2023 from santosh krinskyOne of the things that spiritual seekers experience is that regardless of how strong the central aspiration of the soul happens to be within them, they experience fluctuations based on the various parts of the external nature coming to the front and asserting their own priorities. This leads to ...
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