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- Specific Incarnations of Gods and Their Powers in the Hindu Tradition - by Submitted on Apr 09, 2021 from santosh krinskyIn spiritual and religious traditions around the world, we see a proliferation of names and personalities of God. This has engendered much confusion for people who talk about monotheism versus polytheism. When one looks deeper into the question, however, it becomes clear that in most cases, ...
Views: 581 - External and Internal Conditions for the Practice of Meditation - by Submitted on Jun 14, 2021 from santosh krinskySwami Vivekananda, in his lectures on Raja Yoga, describes what we may call the “mind stuff”, citta, which tends to be always disturbed as impressions, perceptions, thoughts, feelings, emotions create ripples, as a breeze will create ripples on the surface of a lake. He goes on to describe the ...
Views: 580 - Primary Functions and Powers of the Major Chakras in the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Feb 17, 2021 from santosh krinskyPractitioners of yoga are generally familiar with the usual definitions of the chakras, their forms, colors and major operative powers when they open. In the integral yoga, where evolutionary planes of consciousness are recognised, Sri Aurobindo has expanded the definitions and understanding of ...
Views: 579 - The Fundamental Nature of Existence is Consciousness - by Submitted on Feb 22, 2021 from santosh krinskyAs we reflect on our own existence, and our relationship to the world around us, we begin by referencing everything to our own desires, needs, wants and feelings. We look at the world as external to us, inanimate matter somehow sustaining plant and animal life. The sun appears to revolve around ...
Views: 578 - Doubt, and Certitude About the Divine - by Submitted on Apr 06, 2021 from santosh krinsky“Seeing is believing” has been a proverb for humanity since time immemorial. Yet, as we delve deeper into the way the world functions, we come to understand that what we see is not always an accurate reflection of the underlying reality. We see the sun rise in the East and set in the West on a ...
Views: 577 - Work, Meditation and Devotion are Three Pillars of Yogic Development - by Submitted on Jun 11, 2021 from santosh krinskyEvery individual has a unique set of current capacities, difficulties and predilections in the nature. Spiritual growth therefore is not “one size fits all”. Some have a strongly developed mental power, others a vibrant emotional being, and still others have an active vital nature and / or ...
Views: 577 - The Need to Transcend the Intellect in the Search for the Truth of Existence - by Submitted on Feb 07, 2021 from santosh krinskyOnce we acknowledge that Truth cannot be ascertained through intellectual prowess alone, that the mind is not an instrument of truth, but rather an instrument for seeking, filled with doubt, confusion and limitation, we can no longer rely entirely on the mind to be the arbiter of what reality ...
Views: 576 - The Transformation of the Sex Centre and Its Energy - by Submitted on Jan 10, 2022 from santosh krinskyFor the practitioner of the integral Yoga, energy is utilized to redirect and shift the standpoint away from the ego-personality into the divine standpoint, and then to effectuate actions to carry out the divine manifestation in the world. Energy dedicated to the enhancement or satisfactions of ...
Views: 576 - A Transitional Phase of Work in the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Jun 04, 2021 from santosh krinskyFor the practitioner of the integral yoga, any form of work represents an opportunity to discard the normal, habitual mode of action and replace it with the direct action of the Divine Force. This transition, however, is neither immediate nor completed all at once, so there is inevitably a phase ...
Views: 575 - Impact of the Supramental Manifestation on Earthly Existence, Part 2 - by Submitted on Mar 31, 2021 from santosh krinskyThere is a verse in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad which illustrates the essential principle of an evolutionary cycle of the development and growth of consciousness, when it indicates a progression ‘from the darkness to the light, from light to greater light.” The Upanishad foresees that ...
Views: 574 - Practical Tips Regarding Meditation - by Submitted on Jun 24, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe first point that should be considered is why one wants to meditate and what the expected result should be. This is important because it helps set the internal expectation and helps thereby in understanding the different aspects, both internal and external, that can influence the result. ...
Views: 573 - The Existence of Mental, Vital and Physical Planes of Existence Independent of the Material World - by Submitted on Mar 06, 2021 from santosh krinskyWhere do life and mind come from in the material world? How does inanimate Matter become the basis out of which life evolves? Western science, at a loss as to this process, simply has speculated that given enough time, the chemical/electrical interaction of material forces will spawn life and ...
Views: 573 - Samadhi, the Yogic Trance, and the Waking Realisation - by Submitted on Jun 23, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe yogic trance, samadhi, is considered a goal for the spiritual seeker, providing access to the realisation of spiritual Oneness. In the integral yoga, however, dropping of the outer life and activity and entering into a trance state is not the end goal. The consciousness that is experienced ...
Views: 572 - The Aim of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Feb 20, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe aim of spiritual seeking and yoga, historically, has been the liberation of the individual seeker and achievement of enlightenment. In many cases, this has involved making a choice between living “in the world” or abandoning the worldly life. Some traditions, such as the Buddhist Mahayana ...
Views: 572 - The Impersonal and the Personal Divine - by Submitted on Apr 03, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe range of spiritual experiences is vast. We tend, in our mental framework, to associate our own practice or religious background or philosophy as the only, or at least, the best, way to attain spiritual realisation; yet, this is actually just a limitation of our ego-consciousness. People ...
Views: 572 - The Vital Envelope, the Aura, and Its Protection of the Physical Body - by Submitted on Jul 31, 2022 from santosh krinskyPeople speak about an aura surrounding the physical body. Because many people cannot physically see the aura, they remain skeptical about its existence. This however is not a proof of its non-existence. Occultists and those who have developed subtle sense perception have described the aura ...
Views: 572 - Understanding the Various Causes of Visions of Deities, Saints and Sages - by Submitted on Aug 23, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe transcription of inner events and experiences into our mental framework will generally utilize symbols, images and personalities which fit into our background, education, and experience, so as to build a link and acceptance through use of familiar images. We frequently find recounted the ...
Views: 571 - Mind ... and Supermind - by Submitted on Mar 20, 2021 from santosh krinskyOr, we may describe this as the parable of the caterpillar and the butterfly. The mind is like the caterpillar, slowly grinding its way along, eating and focusing on its physical being and its circumstances for gaining sustenance. It does not dream that one day it will be transformed into a ...
Views: 570 - The Respective Roles of the Jivatman and the Psychic Being - by Submitted on Mar 14, 2021 from santosh krinskyIn the Taittiriya Upanishad, a seeker successively realises the basis of existence, first in the physical sheath, then in the vital or life sheath, and then in the mental sheath, before exceeding each of these as the progression of his realisation went beyond the mind into the “knowledge” and ...
Views: 570 - The Tantra and the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Feb 15, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe Tantric tradition has developed a methodology (frequently and widely misunderstood and misapplied), to bring about the opening of the subtle energy centers, called chakras, that reside within our energetic body and control the various functionality of powers of body, life and mind within our ...
Views: 570 - Invisible Forces in Our Lives and in Our Evolutionary Growth - by Submitted on Apr 10, 2021 from santosh krinskyWe do not consider, for the most part, the reliance we have for all things in our lives in the world, upon invisible forces that are at work. We basically take these things for granted, give them names and treat them as a reality that we do not have to think about or reflect upon. No one can ...
Views: 569 - Save the Oceans to Save the Planet, Part 2: Developing Solutions - by Submitted on Aug 08, 2020 from santosh krinskySave the Oceans to Save the Planet: Part 2 Developing Solutions In part 1 we provided an overview of the existential crisis facing the oceans, and by extension, the survival and the quality of life of humanity and other life on the planet due to the challenges to which the oceans are being ...
Views: 568 - The Integral Path Combines the Vedantic and the Tantric Approaches to Divine Realisation - by Submitted on Feb 14, 2021 from santosh krinskyAt a certain point we come to the conclusion that our minds cannot finally determine the truth or the meaning of our existence. We recognise that many of our daily perceptions and assumptions about the world and, in fact, all of existence, are simply inaccurate. We see the sun rise in the East ...
Views: 567 - The Integral Way to the Truth of Existence - by Submitted on Feb 08, 2021 from santosh krinskyIt is not through the power of mind that one achieves knowledge of the truth of existence. The frame within which the mind operates, and the methodology that it utilizes, simply cannot appreciate, nor understand, those aspects of existence which fall outside of its direct scope or which exceed ...
Views: 567 - Medicine, and Beyond, in the Treatment of Bodily Illness - by Submitted on Aug 16, 2022 from santosh krinskyIt is easy, in fact, quite normal, for an individual to turn toward medical treatments once an illness presents itself. The mind-set of the entire society is based on the idea that illness must be defeated and that medicine, through its long history, has increasingly gained powers and tools to ...
Views: 566 - The Role and Rationale for the Existence of Hostile Forces - by Submitted on Dec 10, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe argument has been going on forever: “why does God permit evil to exist?” and “if the Divine constitutes everything, where do the hostile forces come from?” John Milton, in his Paradise Lost, posited ‘fallen angels’ who were thrown out of heaven as the cause of evil in the human world. ...
Views: 566 - Supraphysical Sensory Experience: Latent Powers, Not Miracles or Delusions - by Submitted on Aug 16, 2021 from santosh krinskyIt is human nature to want to be able to explain away events, circumstances or experiences that are not understood. For much of human existence, the rising and setting of the sun and moon, the existence of the stars, the power of the oceans, the wind or the storms were described as actions of ...
Views: 565 - Addressing the Experience of the Dark Night of the Soul - by Submitted on Sep 30, 2021 from santosh krinskyThere are periods in the life of virtually every spiritual seeker or religious practitioner when the active experience seems to withdraw and the individual is thrown back into a world and a life that seems empty, meaningless, dark and obscure, and the presence of the Divine is not felt any ...
Views: 564 - Save the Oceans to Save the Planet: Part 1 Understanding the Issues - by Submitted on Aug 02, 2020 from santosh krinskySave the Oceans to Save the Planet: Part 1 Understanding the Issues We give little thought to the oceans of the world and the importance they have in sustaining all life on the planet. We treat the oceans as a bounty for providing fish into the human diet, and as a transport medium for the ...
Views: 564 - Judging Others - by Submitted on Feb 25, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe surface being, under the influence of the vital ego, loves to criticize others and ‘gossip’ about them. This is a method of ‘puffing up’ or inflating the ego by dragging down others. It also wastes considerable time and energy by focusing on what are for the most part superficial things in a ...
Views: 563 - Spiritual Experiences and Transformation of the Nature - by Submitted on Oct 13, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe vital nature is always interested in, even fixated on, the idea of having dramatic ‘spiritual experiences’. These experiences can open the eyes of the seeker to a wider reality, and can help reorient the direction of the life, sometimes in unusual or unexpected ways. There are many instances ...
Views: 563 - A Change of the Outer Nature Requires First a Change in the Inner Being - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe physical body (actually the entire material world) is subject to habits, and change tends to come slowly. Our being, however, is made up of a series of sheaths which progress from the subtle to the gross physical and thus, any attempt to make a change to the more outward sheaths, the ...
Views: 562 - Spirituality and Occultism - by Submitted on Aug 15, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe lure of occult powers and experiences can be a considerable obstacle for the spiritual seeker who becomes enmeshed in the idea of developing these capacities. There is a reason why traditional paths of spiritual development eschew the use of the occult powers that arise naturally as one goes ...
Views: 561 - Speech and the Practice of Yoga - by Submitted on Feb 17, 2022 from santosh krinskyHuman beings are talkative creatures. The power of speech, the power of language is one of the most highly developed areas of difference from most other species on the planet (there are other beings that have speech, but to date we have not found them to have the complexity and breadth of ...
Views: 559 - The Self — the Atman and Individual Liberation - by Submitted on Jul 31, 2021 from santosh krinskyOne of the primary objectives of traditional paths of yoga has been the liberation from the bondage of the world of illusion, the phantasmagoria of the creation and the individual’s fixation on success and failure, gain and loss, pleasure and pain, happiness and despair that occurs as a result ...
Views: 559 - The Development and Use of Occult Powers and the Spiritual Quest - by Submitted on Aug 19, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe lure of occult powers represents one of the temptations to be faced by the spiritual seeker who begins to access the inner and higher realms of consciousness. These powers may be developed through systematic efforts, following the protocols and laws of action under which these powers exist. ...
Views: 558 - The Road to Silence of the Mind - by Submitted on Jun 15, 2021 from santosh krinskyIt is essentially a universal experience that when we sit for meditation, we see clearly the constant running of thoughts, perceptions, feelings, emotions, desires etc. that occupies the mind all the time, but to which we pay little attention when going about the activities of daily life. There ...
Views: 558 - Hostile Forces and Their Impact on Spiritual Development - by Submitted on Dec 07, 2021 from santosh krinskyThere are legends in major traditions about opposing and actively hostile beings who attempt to disrupt the spiritual evolution. Buddha was tempted by Mara. Jesus was tempted by the Devil. The Buddha and Jesus had to overcome the pressures of these beings in order to carry out their evolutionary ...
Views: 557 - Divine Grace and the Action of the Laws of Nature - by Submitted on Apr 19, 2021 from santosh krinskyDue to the nature of the mind, which always seeks for “black and white” solutions and answers, it is easy to fall into the idea that everything depends on one’s own efforts, or alternatively, that one’s efforts do not matter as the Divine controls what occurs. In actuality, there is no real ...
Views: 556 - The Divine Force Active in the Practice of Yoga - by Submitted on Apr 12, 2021 from santosh krinskyWe all generally understand the concept of force at the material level. Our entire world is driven by this force as the sun energizes the planet, as the wind, the water and the power of fire in the depths of the earth create our material environment. We understand the concept of force at the ...
Views: 555 - Is There Any Certitude About the Supramental Manifestation Actually Taking Place? - by Submitted on Mar 27, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe mind of the modern day wants to analyze facts and draw conclusions based on those facts. For centuries, the movement has been away from reliance on belief and faith to a reliance on facts and rational analysis. One need only look at the history of the rise of Western science and the disputes ...
Views: 554 - The Integral Yoga: Development Beyond the Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita - by Submitted on Feb 12, 2021 from santosh krinskyWhile the Bhagavad Gita provides a strong foundation for the spiritual practice of the Integral Yoga, it was developed within a context of time, place and circumstance that brought it to a certain stage of human evolution and potential. Today, the teachings of the Gita remain relevant, but do ...
Views: 554 - The Vital Nature and Its Transformation - by Submitted on Mar 10, 2021 from santosh krinskyAs each phase of the evolution of consciousness manifests, it arises from the prior stage and continues to interact with that stage. At the point of meeting, the stages take on characteristics that resemble in many ways both together. Thus, the higher forms of Matter begin to exhibit ...
Views: 554 - The Four Parts of the Vital Being: Their Functions and Their Seats - by Submitted on Mar 09, 2021 from santosh krinskyFor those who focus on liberation from the worldly life, it is not much of a consideration to understand the exact details of the vital nature. If they can find a way to eliminate or reduce its action overall, so that they can concentrate on the process of liberation, that is considered ...
Views: 553 - The Attempt to Change Human Nature at All Levels of the Being - by Submitted on Sep 02, 2021 from santosh krinskyIt is a well-known occurrence. We have a wonderful experience in meditation and come back filled with light, a feeling of joy or bliss, an open heart and a sense of realisation. Then we go out to act in the world and all the old impulses arise, the feelings of desire, the drive of control, ...
Views: 552 - The Essential Role of Supermind in the Transformation of Mind-Life-Body - by Submitted on Mar 22, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe aspiration and goal of seekers from time immemorial is the Eternal, which represents a status outside of the normal functioning of body-life-mind, that is, outside our normal experience. Through achievement of samadhi, the consciousness enters into the experience of pure existence, ...
Views: 552 - How the Practitioner Can Identify the Action of Hostile Forces - by Submitted on Dec 08, 2021 from santosh krinskyWhenever the discussion turns to unseen powers and forces, the rational intellect of the mind tends to shut down. That is one reason why there has been an argument, in the West, between Science and Religion. Yet, at some point, even the reasoning intellect needs to begin to reflect upon and ...
Views: 551 - The Role of Work in the Sadhana of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on May 27, 2021 from santosh krinskyThere is a famous story in the Upanishads which illustrates both the role and the power of work in spiritual practice and realisation. A youth approached a teacher to learn the spiritual truths of existence. The teacher handed over to him 2 head of cattle and said that he would take him up as a ...
Views: 549 - Understanding the Concept of Divine Grace - by Submitted on Apr 17, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe human mind likes to have a logical reason for events, and therefore we search for a causal relationship between an event and some precursor. We call this “cause and effect” or “causality” or “dependent origination” or “law of karma”, or “law of nature”. However we describe it, we are trying ...
Views: 549 - Advanced Methods for Converting Work into Karma Yoga - by Submitted on May 30, 2021 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo explores the methods of converting work into ‘karma yoga’ with several additional ways to approach this. The development of an inner ‘witness consciousness’, the purusha which is separate from the outer active nature, prakriti, is an intermediate stage beyond those which involve ...
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