Agustina Thorgilsson is The Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to "Spiritual Growth". You can find complete information on Agustina Thorgilsson and her products by visiting www.lifenavigation.com.
We tend to evaluate events or circumstances based on their relation to our personal identification with the external ego-personality, and our prevalent idea about ourselves at that point in time. In retrospect, we frequently find that those things which we considered to be ‘bad’ were actually ... Views: 29
The mind, with its need to correlate facts, gather evidence and develop proofs, finds it difficult, if not impossible, to credit ideas that seem to fall outside the logical reason based on the mind’s limited understanding of the oneness of the universal creation. The mind sets up certain ‘rules’ ... Views: 32
Many people believe that once they become adherents of a particular religion or spiritual tradition, they need no longer make an effort. The idea that someone else is “taking charge” and taking on the burden of one’s life is particularly enticing for people. They frequently then accept that ... Views: 32
The drive in the human individual to find out who he is, what he is here for, and how he can grow and become what he is intended to be in the creation sets him apart from the animal. Even in the midst of an almost complete immersion in the external life and its lures, somewhere deep inside, the ... Views: 34
We have previously explored the attitudes of the external, outer being in relation to these various issues. This is the opportunity to compare that view with the attitude of the inner being. At a certain point in an individual’s journey the development takes him beyond his initial fixation with ... Views: 34
At some point in life, the individual becomes aware that the former methods of reacting to circumstances and events are not only counter-productive, but actually harmful to their own health and well-being and the successful resolution of the situation. Struggling and striving, fighting and ... Views: 36
Beyond the stage of “flight or fight” we see in panic and the eventual recoil into inertia, where we see the initial reactions of instinct at play, the stage of ‘striving’ begins to harness energy of response by the vital being, albeit still very much under the influence and control of the power ... Views: 36
Both panic and inertia are responses to situations that arise in the life of individuals. They come about when something new or unexpected comes forward to challenge the individual. In the case of panic, there is clearly a perception of danger, and the rising of fear in the being. This drives ... Views: 45
Understanding the operation of the three Gunas, or qualities of Nature, is an important part of understanding yogic psychology. The Bhagavad Gita devotes considerable effort to describing the Gunas and their functionality. For most people, however, translating things like reactions, responses, ... Views: 45
The mental consciousness evolved subsequent to the emergence of the physical consciousness and the vital consciousness. It appears in rudimentary forms in various animals, and advances to a much higher state of activity and power in the higher primates, including human beings, as well as ... Views: 38
The life force brings mobility and increased responsiveness compared to the physical being. It operates primarily under the impulsion of attraction and repulsion. The predominant quality or Guna is Rajas, which brings energy, action, and progress, while at the same time, its deformations can ... Views: 38
Western psychology is still a relatively young science, and it necessarily does not have the complete picture of all the complex interactions that take place within our being. By starting to look inwards, and starting to deal with the powers of mind, will, emotion, nervous impulses and ... Views: 37
What makes the human consciousness different from the animal consciousness? A primary factor is the possibility that a human being has for detaching himself from total involvement in the external life, and along with that, the opportunity for evolutionary growth.
Dr. Dalal observes: “The ... Views: 44
External impressions, sensations, impulsions, events all traverse the nervous pathways from the sense organs to the mind, which tends to react to these sensations and thereby remains in a constant state of disturbance. In the modern world, with our addiction to social media, mobile phones, ... Views: 45
How do we look at our lives? Do we find any meaning or purpose in living? Or are we just here to live a material existence, enjoy ourselves as much as possible, try to avoid suffering and eventually die without much pain?
Many people do not take the opportunity to shift their perspective on ... Views: 46
We tend to overlook, or underestimate, the powers inherent in our human existence, the powers of the body, the powers of the vital nature, the powers of the mind, the powers of the psychic being, and the power of the spirit. Some of these powers are manifest but not fully understood, explored or ... Views: 45
We go through our daily lives, busy ourselves with earning a living, supporting our families, maintaining our bodies, entertaining ourselves, arguing, fighting, gossiping, and following up on hobbies or passions we are engaged in. We close ourselves into a narrow and limited existence and feel ... Views: 47
When we want to help alleviate the suffering in the world, or help solve the general concerns, or the more specific individual needs and wants, we come up with an endless number of ideas about ‘how to help’. From an outward perspective these may be highly valuable and useful activities. ... Views: 49
As the mental consciousness awakens, particularly if there is an influence coming from the psychic being or from the spiritual planes pressing down on the mental being, we become aware of virtually endless problems, issues, difficulties, imbalances, disharmonies and outright conflicts in the ... Views: 54
We read or hear about the accounts of individuals who had some kind of experience, either dramatically uplifting, or severely traumatic, who awaken to a spiritual purpose in their lives which changes the entire direction and focus of what takes place for them afterwards when compared with their ... Views: 44
A relatively frequent occurrence for the spiritual aspirant is to reach the boundary wall of consciousness and get a glimpse or experience of the spiritual consciousness without limits. This experience, when it comes, may raise up tremendous fear in the individual and he reacts, almost ... Views: 48
People commonly believe that espousing a particular religion or religious doctrine, reading scriptural texts, singing devotional songs, practicing yoga, or meditation or any of the numerous other practices often called ‘spiritual’ makes them spiritual. While these practices may help to turn ... Views: 51
When we read in the Puranas of India, we find that there are a host of beings who are essentially non-evolutionary, static beings. They may be gods, demons or animals, or occupy any number of other positions in the scale of the manifested existence. An interesting note, however, is that if they ... Views: 49
People are always asking about the difference between spirituality and religion, as well as the difference between the mind and the spirit. The term ‘spirit’ has been used in so many different ways and contexts, that it is hard to comprehend exactly what is meant by it. When ‘spiritual ... Views: 52
We get an intimation of what we should do, how we should respond to a situation. Then all the excuses and justifications and ‘needs’ and temporizing begin, and we find that there are good reasons why we should not do exactly, in the precise way, that the inner guidance tells us something should ... Views: 50
In the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna explains to Arjuna, at some length, the process of the universal manifestation and how individuals are essentially driven by their nature in relation to the larger forces of the manifestation itself to act in certain ways. For most of these individuals, the ... Views: 56
The development of the human being takes place in several successive stages and as individuals mature they begin to manifest and express the powers of the nature as they successively come to the fore. Not every individual develops and expresses all the powers fully in a particular lifetime. For ... Views: 58
When we look back on our lives, with the benefit of hindsight, we frequently can identify a change in direction that took an individual from a normal path of societal acceptance, career, marriage, family, social interactions and entertainment, to a life that is dedicated to some cause or purpose ... Views: 56
How easy it is, and how comforting, to look at someone who opposes us, or who is creating some form of havoc in the world at large and simply label that individual as pure evil, as a Rakshasa, an Asura, a Demon, or some other form of hostile being. And yet, those individuals are actually part of ... Views: 58
We are educated and habituated to focus on our differences. We see different gender, different class, different racial characteristics, different religious backgrounds, different temperaments, different interests and focus, different value sets, different philosophies of life and living, ... Views: 58
In the West, the existence of the soul has been mainly perceived either as a matter of religious belief or scientific skepticism, neither necessarily based in actual experience. At one point, scientists decided that if the belief that the soul departs at the time of death is to be considered as ... Views: 60
Blaise Pascal (June 19th,1623 – August 19th,1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, writer, philosopher, child prodigy, and inventor of the mechanical calculator. His earliest mathematical work was on projective geometry at the age of 16. He also heavily influenced the development of modern ... Views: 65
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: 73
As mental beings we tend to believe that the mind is able to determine the truth of things. We soon learn, however, that there are many issues that prevent the mind from actually ascertaining truth in any ultimate form. We rely on the perceptions of our senses, but those senses can be misled. ... Views: 73
The human being consists of multiple levels of consciousness which interact with and impact one another and which, from an evolutionary standpoint, represent a consistent trend of increasing power and subtlety of the consciousness. The consciousness of the body, the physical consciousness is the ... Views: 70
Human beings are not all at the same stage of evolutionary development. We can see this clearly when we observe the different interests, ways of responding and directions that people take as they grow and begin to participate in the life of the society and the world at large. We see some people ... Views: 72
One of the prevalent ideas about managing the vital nature has been the idea that punishment in some form or other is beneficial. Spanking of children, for example has been a common method of ‘educating’ them. It is a form of conditioning that administers a negative consequence to a specific ... Views: 78
Gaining the cooperation of the vital nature is an important step in the transformation of our existence, including the upliftment of the physical nature. Once we have begun the process of observation of the vital nature, its habits and its predilections, we can begin to implement various ... Views: 77
When we recognize the difficulties of managing the energy of the vital nature, and its long habits of how it finds fulfillment and satisfaction, we can appreciate that there are no ‘simple’ solutions available. The vital, when it is cooperative with the mind and the psychic being, is an ... Views: 77
Most people have had the experience. An individual has a dispute with a friend, a relative, a spouse. No resolution takes place. An attempt to convince or control the other person is met with resistance. There may be aggression or threats of violence. Or a period of silent avoidance may result. ... Views: 77
The vital nature is closely tied to the operation of desire. Whether it is a desire for recognition, for money, for sex, for achievement of some sort, for acceptance or comfort, the vital nature activates its energy to reach out and grab some result it believes will satisfy that desire. At the ... Views: 79
Power is disconcerting. Humanity is attracted to it, while at the same time, it fears raw power. It is often said “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.” What is then to be done with our vital nature that expresses power and provides the motive force for our lives?
Those ... Views: 78
When we recognise that the world is an actual manifestation of the Divine, we can begin to appreciate the Divine in all things that we experience, all things that we see, all that we hear, all that we feel or touch or smell. The Divine manifests through his power, Shakti, which takes various ... Views: 74
In his Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda details a number of events he witnessed or experienced personally whereby a spiritual master was able to materialize his form and communicate with the disciple from a great distance; and where various yogis were able to perform acts of ... Views: 80
We can look at the idea of a transformation of the body from several viewpoints. One viewpoint accepts the basic current structure and function of the body and simply enhances, protects, extends the life and capacity, or removes limitations and failures to which the body is currently prone. Many ... Views: 81
We tend to take for granted the innate consciousness and capacities of the body. Much of what takes place in the body is done by systems that are far more complex, and far more subtle, than anything the mind can actively control. In fact, we find that frequently, when the mind intervenes, or the ... Views: 73
We tend to overlook or disregard the capacity of the body and its ‘body consciousness’ to aid in the spiritual quest. Each element of the being, the mind, the vital nature, and the body, has its own consciousness and capacity for response. Each element also can either be an aid or an obstacle to ... Views: 82
Some years ago, some parents in the USA had an interesting conversation with their local elementary school administrator. They were concerned about the type of education their children would receive so they set up a meeting to interview the administrator, with the idea that they were prepared to ... Views: 81
We could say that it is almost a universal experience. A child expresses some sentiment, some idea about what he or she would like to do, something that soars beyond the mundane daily existence, something that makes things better, increases the beauty and harmony of life, cherishes life, and ... Views: 75
We are habituated, particularly in the modern world, to the mind constantly interacting with its environment, with sensations, with media and with ideas. We are also addicted to the activity, the energy, of the mind’s engagement and when the mind is not engaged somehow, we either sleep, or seek ... Views: 90