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We are all subject to the action of the three Gunas or qualties of Nature. They are always shifting. As they shift, our outlook, mood, physical responsiveness, vital energy and mental framework all undergo corresponding changes. None of the three Gunas remains constantly in the forefront, so ... Views: 0
The flame of aspiration is the force that keeps the sadhak moving forward in his spiritual practice, regardless of the forces that threaten or oppose that progress, whether from outside or which rise up internally. Everyone goes through changes of mood and energy as the three Gunas fluctuate. ... Views: 0
People believe generally that taking up the spiritual life involves a form of escapism from the daily obstacles, difficulties and pressures of living an active life in society. Some people in fact take up the spiritual path as an escape, but that is neither the primary motivation nor does it ... Views: 0
Forces that operate in the world are not necessarily ‘hostile’ even if their effect on any particular individual appears to be extremely negative. These forces operate on a large scale to carry out their own role and fulfillment, without specific regard to who may be impacted. When an earthquake ... Views: 0
Most people are skeptical about the concept of conscious universal forces. Even if they profess a belief in God, angels, demons, and other unseen powerful beings, they tend to reject the idea when it comes down to actual influence in their own actions, reactions and responses. There is an ... Views: 1
When an individual takes up the spiritual quest, he tends to accept certain principles of action which, by definition, contradict the values, principles and life-actions of his past experience. In many cases this causes a considerable amount of doubt and concern as he tries to overlay his ... Views: 2
Those who identify with their mental being tend to believe that if they think in a certain way, that they have succeeded in embodying that. They will take the thought for the accomplishment without necessarily recognising that their physical actions, their vital energies and even aspects of ... Views: 3
The mind provides a filter to manage and control the vital forces to a certain degree. While it is not perfect, without it, an individual can become subject to whatever vital energy is active and rising up within him. At the same time, the mind acts as a limitation on the ability of the ... Views: 4
All consciousness, all energy, all material substance is essential one, although it takes different forms in the external surface consciousness. Vibrational patterns move across the universal creation and forms respond to them if they are able to vibrate within the range of the vibrations. Human ... Views: 5
Most people simply “live” their lives and carry out whatever feeling, mood or impetus may be impacting them at the moment. They “become” that movement, whether it is happiness and joy, hunger, anger, ennui, fatigue, or some concentrated state of mind, etc. Their awareness, their conscious ... Views: 6
As long as we set our standpoint in the external surface consciousness, we do not have the leverage nor the tools to easily remove an embedded reaction. We tend to take steps to suppress rather than expunge the unwanted energy. This may take the form of an ascetic denial, or an avoidance of ... Views: 7
In its essence, yoga is a form of applied psychology. The practitioner of yoga is attempting to redirect the focus, the responses and the reactions of the being, in many cases having to overcome deeply rooted and embedded instincts, habits, and trained responses, as well as the forces of desire, ... Views: 7
While a reaction may seem to be taking place instantaneously, it is always conditioned by prior acts or events, the chain of cause and effect, dependent origination or the law of karma, however one wants to term it. By adopting the standpoint of the witness consciousness, observing the external ... Views: 9
A lesson in control of impulses was described by Homer in The Odyssey. The protagonist, Odysseus is on his ship trying to return home after the Trojan War. He approaches an area that was home to the Sirens, whose alluring voices would lure sailors to their death as the ships crashed among the ... Views: 9
We make resolutions to change certain behaviours. Our minds are made up. We are certain that we can make the needed change. Many people make ‘new year’s resolutions’ to change something, perhaps to lose weight, to discontinue some habit, to avoid expressing anger, or some other intention we ... Views: 8
We tend to be reactive by nature. Something occurs and we immediately capture the vibration and respond to it. Thus we have outbursts of anger when we are frustrated or feel insecure, or when something gets in the way of some idea, intention or movement we want to undertake. An example of this ... Views: 8
If we examine the times and phases of our lives, we find that when things seem to be going smoothly forward and we feel great, we want to enjoy and appreciate the good times. We thus tend to slacken our efforts so that we can get the most out of the positive energies we are experiencing. This is ... Views: 8
The spiritual aspirant necessarily has to change the way things have been historically and habitually done in the world if he is to make progress and move beyond the limitations imposed by the body-life-mind complex and all the traditions, rituals, habits, fixed ideas and vital-emotional ... Views: 9
Whether we term it divine Will, synchronicity, coherence, quantum entanglement, cause and effect, dependent origination, karma, or the law of attraction (or any other terminology), there remains a truth that the specific time, place and circumstance we occupy in the world is due to a stream of ... Views: 9
The way we respond to setbacks or difficulties is conditioned by how deeply we are embedded in the ego-consciousness. The individual ego judges everything from its own very limited viewpoint. What it interprets as a negative result or as an obstacle may actually be part of the larger process of ... Views: 9
There are implications for anyone accepting the mission to work toward the evolutionary change of human nature, speeded up by the yogic process. We think we should somehow have amazing spiritual experiences, and live in a world of peace, sunshine and joy. The reality is likely to be far ... Views: 8
When we are confronted with difficulties, we employ several different types of responses, mainly depending on instinct, habit, training and the play of the three Gunas, the qualities of Nature, Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas. Sometimes we respond with more effort, sometimes we lapse into depression and ... Views: 9
Traditionally spiritual paths have developed guidelines and practices that are applied to everyone as set practices. Thus, some people wind up learning particular forms of meditation or concentration, devotion, or dedicated work, or they practice specific forms of hatha yoga, pranayama or other ... Views: 8
When we look at existence from the point of view of our material consciousness, we tend to treat material things as ‘inanimate objects’ without consciousness. We attribute to plants, and then to animals, increasing levels of conscious awareness and with the advent of the mental consciousness, we ... Views: 8
People who reside in communities adjacent to the beach regularly see visitors stretched out on the sand, ostensibly sleeping while ‘working on their tan’, in some cases for the entire stay of a vacation. When asked, these people indicate that they are taking a well-earned vacation and just want ... Views: 7
We spent a considerable amount of our time rehashing events and actions that are past, analyzing them, worrying about whether we have done things correctly or not, and reflecting on how we might deal with similar events in the future in a better way. We recount what happened during our day to ... Views: 10
We tend to work from the outer to the inner consciousness. We treat the external world as more real and dominant to determine our physical body, our vital nature and our mental development. There is of course a certain amount of truth to this view, inasmuch as the outer and the inner are two ... Views: 15
People espousing their philosophy of how to act in the world are often confronted by a disconnect between their statements and their own actions. They frequently tell children, for instance, ‘Do as I say, not as I do.’ If we assume that the person is not simply motivated by pure self-interest ... Views: 14
Modern day civilization emphasizes some kind of external 'result' that can be measured. Most frequently this is tied to a monetary value, but the world also appreciates and honors, in some cases, those who do humanitarian work, those who lead countries or fight wars, those who create new ... Views: 15
There are many methods that have been tried to shift ideas, thoughts, motives and actions in the world. Some of these methods involve subtle, or not so subtle, use of various forms of propagandizing, proselytizing, sermonizing, or dominating others through use of covert or overt force, including ... Views: 17
It is a characteristic trait of the human ego-personality that we easily see faults and issues in others and in external circumstances, that we fail to see within ourselves. But how do we recognise something outside if we have no way to relate to it, if we do not produce the vibrational pattern ... Views: 16
When we are feeling weak or limited, we become unhappy, we react with frustration and are discontented with our lot. We feel in many cases oppressed by circumstances. We can become depressed if things are not going the way we expect or want them to go. We can become angry with ourselves, with ... Views: 15
As long as an individual is rooted in his own ego-standpoint, he sees and interprets things from that standpoint and cannot, by definition, ‘see things as they are’ in the wider creation. There is the famous story of 5 different observers of a traffic accident, each one observing from a ... Views: 17
The physical body and the sense of separateness that it creates for us acts both as a limitation and as a protection from the action of the energies and forces that are constantly moving in the universal creation and setting up vibrational patterns to which we may respond. The physical body ... Views: 19
Cultured and educated people often believe that they could not stoop to certain actions or be guilty of certain motives in their actions, or simply react to circumstances in a way other than that of their predominant mental view of themselves. They may look down on those who appear to them to be ... Views: 19
There is an art to management of people within a company, department or section. Those who are tasked with undertaking this responsibility frequently find it challenging to get the exact right balance to both motivate their team members and keep things moving smoothly forward. If they are too ... Views: 22
Being a spiritual seeker, and a manager of a business, or a unit or department or program, are not incompatible activities. The question that seekers raise is how to find the proper balance that allows the work, including the management work, that they do, be part of their spiritual sadhana. If ... Views: 19
There is an apocryphal story involving the Mother, a sadhak and a bullock. The sadhak complained that the bullock was being obstinate and not cooperating. The Mother asked the sadhak to bring the bullock so she could observe it. After doing so, she indicated there was nothing wrong with the ... Views: 21
The mental framework frequently wants to find an “either/or” option rather than looking at the nuance needed to resolve multiple views of pending questions. Thus, when we are asked to consider achieving a poise of equality in the face of provocation of any sort, positive or negative, we will ... Views: 21
When we look back at the history of human civilization, we can see that many ideas have been attempted to try to develop a fair, balanced and prosperous society. Thinkers, philosophers, political scientists and economists have all weighed in with their dreams and considerations about how to ... Views: 22
The Mother provides simple, yet powerful guidance about the connection between one’s attitude and his digestive system. If we consider for a moment the times when we are ‘out of sorts’, feeling angry, or bitter, or somewhat sharp and biting in our reactions to others, we can see that in many ... Views: 25
The mental consciousness believes, first of all, that the particular viewpoint held by an individual is ‘correct’ and that other viewpoints are ‘wrong’. The vital nature wants to assert itself and gain dominance. The limited and linear framework of the normal human consciousness ensures that ... Views: 20
Someone says or does something we do not like or which we find offensive. They may do things to harm our reputation or our relationships, or they may affect our financial well being, possibly cheat us or interfere with our lives in some other way. The natural reaction is one of anger, even ... Views: 22
What we see in others in many cases is a mirror to what we contain within ourselves. We understand what is taking place because we are able to receive the vibration and internalize it and translate it into something that resonates in our being. In Western psychology there is a concept called ... Views: 25
The spiritual seeker often finds that he can see weaknesses and faults in others. If he fails to recognise that his reaction may be due to harboring those faults and weaknesses within himself, he can take an attitude of hostility toward the other person who is exhibiting those things. He may try ... Views: 24
We go wherever we focus our attention. If we focus our attention on difficulties, we wallow in those difficulties. If we focus our attention on growth and development, then we draw to ourselves those opportunities that support that growth. There are examples. Certain traditions make the rooting ... Views: 24
The play of the three Gunas is active at all times in the life we live here. We may believe that the aspiration, or an act of consecration overcomes this play, but if we examine closely we can see that, in actuality, even the quality of our sadhana, our spiritual effort, is very much controlled ... Views: 24
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: 26
There is a tendency among human beings to react with extremes. Something is either ‘yes’ or ‘no’. ‘black’ or ‘white’, ‘positive’ or ‘negative’. This occurs due to the linear nature of the mental consciousness aided by a vital nature that wants to assert itself by being ‘right’.
For the ... Views: 26
The vital nature generally craves praise and becomes upset with criticism. This habit has been increased by the rise of social media with the ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ that appear on various posts, videos and blogs. People work hard to increase their ‘likes’ and ‘followers’ and make that almost an ... Views: 27