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We can observe all around us, the steps the mental force is taking to take charge of both physical and vital nature. While much of this takes place through the development of technological tools, it is nevertheless an achievement of the mind that makes these things possible. We may debate the ... Views: 98
We are constantly surrounded by ‘miracles’ in the sense that our lives are filled with activities, events, processes and circumstances that we clearly do not understand, but accept based on some explanation, assuming that someone knows what it is all about. Airplanes flying through the air, ... Views: 221
The Dhammapada provides the spiritual seeker with a deep wisdom that forces us to reflect and gain understanding. The Mother has taken up a particular verse about the harm caused by a mind that is not tightly focused and under control. With some consideration we can understand the deeper ... Views: 163
When 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: 487
The vital nature, in particular, is addicted to ‘drama’. It seeks attention and excitement. An added complication is that in modern society, with our fixation on all types of electronic stimulation, internet, mobile phones, radio, television, cinema, along with neon signs, blaring ads and ... Views: 20
Are you concerned about your daughter's self-esteem? Do you worry that she may not be happy? Does she seem to have a non-focused energy around her? Has she shut down lately? Is communication getting more difficult? Are you wishing you still felt the connection with her like you did before she ... Views: 2488
The Supreme Divine is “One without a second”. Yet we can still make mental distinctions between the Transcendent, the Universal and the Individual aspects of the Divine, as that is the nature of the mental consciousness, and we can focus on one or another of these aspects without forgetting the ... Views: 521
Practitioners of Yoga speak of the opening of the Kundalini and the energy rising up from the base of the spine, through the various chakras and issuing out of the 1000 petalled lotus at the top of the skull. The experience of the rising of the Kundalini is a core development in many yogic ... Views: 478
When we generally consider the idea of intuition, we look at some ‘gut feeling’ we may have, or some quick certainty we have about a certain situation and call that ‘intuition’. If we examine the common notions of intuition carefully, we find that in some cases they are embedded responses to ... Views: 311
In the Kena Upanishad, the various gods Agni, Vayu and Indra each are confronted by the Supreme and asked to use their utmost power to destroy what was presented before them. They each failed as their power was insufficient to meet the force of the Supreme. Indra eventually discovered that there ... Views: 330
Individuals who are primarily rooted in the function of the physical mind have a difficulty in accepting the reality of anything that goes outside their ability to sense and perceive. These individuals will frequently deny the existence of the soul because it cannot be seen, measured or ... Views: 296
There are many forms of suggestion, some more subtle than others. Peer pressure is one form that everyone experiences at some point in time. Our friends and acquaintances do something and encourage us to participate and do it also. In some cases, this can lead to life-long consequences, such as ... Views: 211
Confusion about the spiritual being and the psychic being is not the only source of misunderstanding about the source of inspirations, feelings, and thoughts that arise as the individual shifts away from exclusive focus on the surface external being and begins to gain experience of the inner ... Views: 287
We usually think about the term ‘equality’ in relation to society or the economy. Sri Aurobindo uses the term to describe an inner psychological state that keeps the practitioner of the yoga focused on the inner being and its spiritual practices, rather than having the attention drawn out to ... Views: 452
What exactly is the meaning of ‘sincerity’ in the context of the integral yoga, and what makes it so essential to the successful practice of this yoga? For most people, sincerity is a quality defined by adherence to a specific idea or belief and a direct translation of that belief into the ... Views: 385
For spiritual practices that seek a solution outside the life in the world, it is possible to try to “cut the knot” and simply abandon, or at least minimize, the active engagement of mind, life and body in the world. For a spiritual practice such as the integral yoga, however, which aims at a ... Views: 457
The development of the ego-consciousness is part of the evolutionary cycle of increasing manifestation of conscious awareness in Nature. As consciousness develops it moves from a generalized sense of existence to a more specific recognition of one’s own life and awareness. In animals we see this ... Views: 439
Much of the confusion about the nature and action of the soul, the psychic being in man, is due to the loose and varied way the terms are thrown around in everyday parlance. We have ‘soul food’ and ‘soul mates’. We treat the soul as the seat of morality. At the same time, soul is used to ... Views: 333
The heart of devotion opens spontaneously with a deep sense of reverence, aspiration and love. It is based on soul-contact with the Divine. External signs of worship, prayers, songs, rituals, repeating words of devotion are not indicators of the soul status necessarily and they cannot replace ... Views: 373
The term ‘equality’ in general use relates to inter-personal relationships within the society, but that is not how the term is utilized in yogic psychology. Equality in that sense means the ability to accept all touches from the universe, perceptions, feelings, thoughts, emotions, powers and ... Views: 427
What is faith? Faith has generally been associated with belief in a religion and its specific tenets, or ‘articles of faith’. We are educated within our religion of choice about the basic beliefs that underlie that religion and we are asked to accept them ‘on faith’. In some cases, these ... Views: 437
It is a common conception, and a tempting one, to expect that by taking up a certain type of charitable work, or even service to support a particular religion or spiritual path, one is practicing a form of karma yoga. All of these things may have enormous benefit in the outer world, and may ... Views: 552
The aspiring yogic practitioner starts from the basis of the normal human egoistic standpoint of the mind-life-body complex. The process and method of perception, thought, logic, analysis, classification and labeling, reasoning, understanding and implementation in action is quite well-defined ... Views: 273
It is often said that animals do not suffer in the same way that humans do. They experience pain and can suffer from it, but they seem to not be tortured by all of the mental suffering that we go through in our lives. The major differences are first, the ability of the mind to observe itself and ... Views: 447
Each aspect of the human instrumentality provides its own characteristic forms of resistance when a new, higher evolutionary force tries to engage them and redirect them along the lines it proposes. The underlying issues relate to the action of Tamas in the physical level, Rajas in the vital ... Views: 462
We tend to accept issues we are having in our lives as something personal to ourselves and thus, we struggle and either consider ourselves to be weak, or sinful, or otherwise unfit. This happens both generally and for those who practice yoga, and the result is, in many cases, some form of ... Views: 403
If 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: 333
The sexual impulse and energy is one of the basic primary drives in Nature and is widespread in the animal kingdom, although there are instances of asexual reproduction. The drive is so powerful that it can drive beings to extreme lengths, even killing off rivals, or fighting to maintain ... Views: 548
Sri 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: 483
European culture takes credit for ‘discoveries’ that it makes despite the fact that societies in other parts of the world have long known about these things. Thus, Europeans ‘discovered’ America while disregarding the fact that it was already populated with numerous tribes of indigenous people, ... Views: 260
Most of the impressions we receive on a day to day basis go unremarked by our conscious awareness, but are nevertheless received and stored away in our subconscious levels. These impressions may rise to the surface during dreams, or be triggered by certain sensations, events or circumstances, ... Views: 298
Restlessness, impatience and disturbance of the vital nature are signs of weakness in the vital, an inability to hold the energy that is available to the vital. A strong vital nature will have the ability to remain calm and hold the energy without spilling it.
For the spiritual seeker, there ... Views: 18
The Rishis of the Rig Veda place Agni at the beginning and in a central role in the spiritual development they described. The flame of aspiration, the ‘knower of all things born’, the mystic fire is the starting point for spiritual growth. This flame resides in the psychic being, the soul, ... Views: 420
My needs, my wants, my likes and dislikes, my feelings, my emotions, my ideas, my goals and aspirations — all of these things are the signs of the ego-consciousness at work, overcoming the law of inertia that says that a body at rest tends to stay at rest. All of humanity is immersed in the ... Views: 439
The quality of Tamas has as a major characteristic the sense of inertia. Nothing seems to be moving or advancing, there is little energy or will active to undertake action, there is an overpowering sense of helplessness, weakness, failure and dullness.
Many times people confuse dullness or ... Views: 437
There can be no permanent settlement of peace in the mind if the vital nature has not also attained quiet and peace. Many people take this as a reason to abandon active life and involvement in society and the world-at-large; yet, this is not a solution. The vital nature is very much driven by ... Views: 387
Whether 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: 324
If the goal of the spiritual seeker is to attain liberation or realisation, the vital nature can be, for the most part, disregarded. For an integral yoga that has transformation of life through the implementation of the next phase of the evolutionary cycle, such a direction cannot be accepted. ... Views: 459
When we live on the surface of our being, we are highly reactive and tend to act without reflection, jumping at events or circumstances and responding to the slightest provocations. Even something as frequent as someone driving too slowly or too close triggers anger and in some cases, what is ... Views: 413
“By askesis do thou seek to know the Eternal, for concentration in thought is the Eternal.” Thus spoke Varuna to Bhrigu in the Taittiriya Upanishad [Sri Aurobindo’s translation].
Swami Vivekananda’s lectures on Raja Yoga, expounding the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, with an extensive commentary, ... Views: 147
Avoidance of suffering may be considered as a ‘negative’ status. Achievement of happiness is the positive pole of this continuum. Both states are rooted in the mind and the standpoint that the individual takes. When the scriptures speak of “evil thoughts” or “purified thoughts” this is not ... Views: 445
We identify something about ourselves that we would like to change — it could be a physical transformation we seek, or a way to address an imbalance in our feelings or emotions, or it could be a change to our mind-set to overcome ideas of weakness, failure, incapacity, etc. We then try to find a ... Views: 433
The subconscient is the home, in the earth consciousness, of the quality of Tamas, just as the vital manifestation is the natural home of the quality of Rajas, and the mental level and above would be the natural home of the quality of Sattwa. These are all mixed up in the human being, interact ... Views: 496
Our educational systems focus on training of the body, the life-force and the mind, essentially fixating the individual on the life in the external world and his role in that world. He is trained on social expectations and customs, and the use of the tools of mind, life and body in the pursuit ... Views: 235
At certain stages along the way, a particular technique or method of standpoint may be helpful to the growth of the spiritual consciousness or the implementation of that consciousness in the outer being and life. These same methods, however, can lead to stagnation if practiced without heed to ... Views: 396
The time and effort needed to overcome the numerous impediments along the way for those seeking the Divine realisation implies that the seeker must have an intense inner drive to carry on through all difficulties and delays encountered. This inner drive is known as aspiration. It is called the ... Views: 332
In 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: 41
Scientists tell us that human beings diverged from chimpanzees somewhere between 4 and 8 million years ago. Somewhere around 2 million years ago, the line of development that led to human beings appeared and our current formation, Homo sapiens came on the scenes around 300,000 years ago. Each ... Views: 5
Human beings generally have little patience or endurance. Particularly in today’s world, where we expect “immediate” gratification, we want something to get done quickly, easily and permanently. If we work on a particular issue we notice in our being, we want to see results and not have to ... Views: 294