We are currently looking for an Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to "Self Knowledge". If you have expertise in Self Knowledge and your own website and/or product for this topic, please review this form for complete details. The Official Guide Position is part of our Premium Placement Package
The divine Force that descends is not a theoretical event, but a real experience with consequences for the mind, life and body of the seeker. The seeker must be prepared mentally, vitally and physically for the action of this force in the being. The story of the unbaked jar, which cannot sustain ... Views: 577
The ego-consciousness has its evolutionary purpose. The distinction of the individual from the mass of existence led to the ability to move beyond the instinctual and habitual patterns of the species. With this consciousness, variation and innovation became more easily possible. Observation from ... Views: 577
We are used to superimposing our higher intellectual control on the physical mind and its operations. The physical mind still acts, but we generally limit its application through this process. At the same time, however, we do not consciously pay attention to its action or the impact of that ... Views: 577
The vital mind is the dominant process for most people in the world today who live an external life and work toward some form of fulfillment, success, progress or development in their lives and in their relations to family, friends, community and their society. Very few, comparatively, are those ... Views: 577
For most people, rest is a state of lowered consciousness in which we recuperate from the fatigue generated through our various activities. If we reflect on how we respond to fatigue, we find that we have different modes depending on whether it is mental fatigue, vital exhaustion or physical ... Views: 576
When the spiritual aspirant hears that he must eliminate desire from his consciousness, he frequently takes this as a message of ‘renunciation’ and thereby determines to live an isolated life free from the efforts involved in living in the world and interacting within the societal framework. ... Views: 576
If we observe our mental space for some time, such as when we sit for meditation, the first thing to be noticed is that the mind tends to jump around from one thought, idea or perception to another, seemingly randomly and impacted by sensory data coming to us through our sense organs. Some call ... Views: 575
.When we try to understand what is meant by the term ‘soul’ we run up against a confusing mix of ideas about what the soul actually is. Similarly, the use of the term ‘psychic’ has its own issues with confused interpretation. Recognising the need to have some term in English that can be employed ... Views: 575
it is typical of the mental intelligence to believe that reading and remembering something implies that we have realised the truth of what we have read. Those who have taken the time to reflect on this make it clear that ‘reading a book about swimming’ does not mean one knows how to swim! ... Views: 575
Due to what we may call ‘observational bias’ we tend to attribute intention and motive to others that we ourselves have internally and project our internal response onto the other party, without knowing exactly what the cause of their action may be from their standpoint. Some of this is due to ... Views: 575
The mind is always active, jumping from one input source to another, depending on the senses and their objects, the various forms of media we are consuming, including radio, tv, music, reading, social media, etc.; but also on a variety of internal factors including nutritional factors, ... Views: 574
We are trained to think and act from the viewpoint of the ego-personality. When we take up the practice of integral yoga, however, we understand that the standpoint of action must shift so that we can become true instruments of the higher action of the divine force which is working to transform ... Views: 574
The more reactive we are to people and events, the more dispersed our awareness is and this draws away from the ability of the practitioner of the yoga to create and maintain the inner connection to the spiritual force that is pressing to manifest the next phase of the evolutionary development. ... Views: 573
The action of the three Gunas pervades and permeates all action including our response to obstacles, setbacks and concerns that arise during the practice of Yoga. When Tamas is predominant it sends out thoughts and ideas of weakness, failure and limitation. When Rajas is in the ascendent it ... Views: 573
In the classic methods known as Kundalini Yoga, and more generally in traditional yogic practices that seek to open and energize the subtle energy centers, or chakras, the experience is described as one of the energy starting at the lower chakra center, the Muladhara, and then rising up until it ... Views: 573
The ego-personality believes it ‘creates’ ideas, manufactures feelings, etc. It then takes pride in the accomplishment, and this becomes a source of enhancing the ego through a sense of vanity. Many systems in the world are set up to reward the creator or inventor or author, with the idea that ... Views: 573
When an individual being is under extreme pressure, whether through illness, emotional or mental distress, stress of living in the society or dealing with events and people, the natural reaction at the physical-vital-mental level is to contract, to curl up, to close off, to withdraw into a ... Views: 573
The popular idea about intuition is tied to some kind of unexplainable process of "knowing" that people go through. If it is purely based in the type of extrapolation from past experience, or some sense that drives the decision without careful and logical analysis, it is still based in the ... Views: 572
When they were asked how they develop their most inspired concepts or inventions, noted personalities such as Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla made it clear that it is not through some laborious process of thought, but through an inspiration, a vision, a process of understanding that is outside ... Views: 572
The operation of the Gunas of nature, Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas is noticeable in the spiritual quest as in everything else. The result is that when something new or exciting occurs, it tends to provoke the rising of Rajas and an attempt to grasp and enhance the ego-gratification of the event. ... Views: 572
At a very basic, rudimentary level, less developed in the evolutionary scale than the physical mind, lies what is termed the ‘mechanical mind’. This level relies heavily on programmed repetition. It is programmed to have a simple instruction set, to repeat continuously whatever ‘sets off’ its ... Views: 572
Eligibility criteria for bba in ip university in delhi LLDIMS is one of the best bba college in delhi ncr Students can learn from any university in the world and information now knows no boundaries. Naturally, its impact has spread over to the teaching profession as well as modern-day ... Views: 570
Western psychology has invested a considerable amount of time and energy in trying to understand, describe and treat the subconscious levels of our existence. Freud described various complexes that arose from the subconscious and which drove the being into actions that the conscious parts ... Views: 570
Whatever an individual focuses on takes on a large, central position and other aspects shift into the background. This is the secret not only of concentration of effort, but also on an understanding of the issues surrounding practices such as psychoanalysis in relation to a practitioner of yoga. ... Views: 570
There is considerable confusion, and a resultant variety of ways that spiritual seekers respond, to the question of food. Ordinarily food should not lead to any sense of bewilderment, as it is simply a necessity for the maintenance of the physical body in general. The issue arises when food ... Views: 570
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: 570
Development of the inner attitude of dedication, and remembrance of the Divine in work is a progressive process. Initially, most people are unable to actively keep the focus and remembrance while concurrently concentrating on the work at hand. Sri Aurobindo introduces two methods to begin to ... Views: 570
If human nature can be changed, it has to be at the place where motives and impulsions affect the understanding and the action. The sadhana thus entails a review of the wellsprings of thought and action, and a refusal of the drives and motives of the desire soul of the vital nature. Many times ... Views: 569
Whether one is working with a professional in the field of psychology, or one is working on one’s own internally to resolve disturbances and inner conflicts, attain peace, or achieve balance in one’s life, certain basic knowledge is required. One needs to understand the complex nature of the ... Views: 568
The Bhagavad Gita proclaims that ‘yoga is skill in works’. The type of focused concentrated effort that comes about through a yogic practice is an essential aspect of completing any task skillfully. It does not imply, however, that all ‘skill in works’ is necessarily yoga, unless by that one ... Views: 568
If we look at the spiritual and religious traditions of the world, we find that a recurring theme is the need of the true seeker to disassociate himself from the outer life of the world. This is done to focus the attention on the spiritual quest and to avoid the distractions, disruptions and ... Views: 567
We tend to believe that we are a single, consistent and harmonized individuality, personality, character. For the most part, we are not self-reflective enough to recognise the inconsistencies and inner conflicts that take place within the being, due to different drives, needs, desires, and ... Views: 567
What causes an individual to ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ someone they meet. Some obvious reasons include similarities or differences in temperament, responses to situations, idea-sets, lifestyle, and, based on acculturation, accidental characteristics such as religion, social standing, career, or ... Views: 567
There are times when we feel a total lack of inspiration and energy. Dullness pervades, there is no initiative or interest in anything. These times come in the ordinary day to day life, but they are covered up with distractions, entertainment, intoxication, and vital forms of enjoyment. The ... Views: 567
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: 566
We are so used to the constant internal dialogue that we have no conception of what it means to have ‘silence of the mind’. We strive to fill up any silence with sound, whether through conversation, consumption of media, music or even treating television or radio as ‘background noise’ for our ... Views: 565
The general definition of sincerity as understood in society is the quality of unifying one’s intention with one’s words or actions. This definition is a good starting point for understanding sincerity in the yogic sense. The major difference between the two is the level of inward review and ... Views: 565
Faith is generally put in opposition to Knowledge, underlying the long-term dispute in the West between ‘religion’ and ‘science’. This debate has religion requiring belief in the tenets of the religion based on pure faith, and denying the validity of a science-based knowledge approach that may ... Views: 564
Western psychoanalysis focused on a specific segment of the overall human psychological makeup, an area that deals with vestigial instincts and suppressed desires and urges. Obviously any opening and examination of this aspect is fraught with both concerns and dangers for the individual seeking ... Views: 564
Practitioners of spiritual and religious disciplines inevitably are confronted with the habits and expectations of the physical mind in day to day life. There is a constant pressure to provide regular meals that suit the taste of the individual, comfortable surroundings to support the day to day ... Views: 563
It is a virtually universal experience. One sits for meditation, trying to quiet the mind, and the thoughts keep surging and seem to have more intensity than before! Every sensation seems to provoke some activity in the mind, pent up issues or concerns take that time to come to the fore, ... Views: 563
Sri Aurobindo makes a clear distinction between development of the mind and the heart through various intellectual or artistic pursuits, or through music or devotional activities, and the practice of Sadhana, which is the primary need and focus for the spiritual aspirant. While any of these ... Views: 563
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: 563
There must be some form of inner connection or resonance for any vibration to succeed in impacting an individual. On the more general basis, the physical body represents a connection to the material world, so that actions which impact the material world may obviously impact the physical body. ... Views: 563
The Vedic Rishis spoke of Satyam, Ritam, Brihat, ‘the truth, the right, the vast’. These represent psychological states into which the yogic practitioner can enter in order to embody the truth of the Brahman. The vast consciousness takes us out of the human egoistic standpoint into an awareness, ... Views: 563
English Medium School in Noida is the very first institution that brings children from different walks of life together and teaches them to march hand-in-hand for mutual benevolence. Therefore, any sense of equality, be it economic or gender-related, begins from school, and schools have a ... Views: 562
There is a general bias in our society that holds that someone who has a developed mentality, and who is ‘well-read’ is smarter or more intelligent than those who cannot read or who have limited reading capacity. Yet it must be recognised that intelligence cannot be measured, as is done in the ... Views: 562
When do you find your kids the most delighted? Surely when they play! After all, games and children are so inseparable! The glee on those little faces, the bright smiles, and those loud giggles speak for the pleasure and contentment children get when they indulge in playing. Experts say that ... Views: 561
In the field of medicine, there is a practice known as ‘differential diagnosis’ which examines symptoms and looks at the variety of potential causes before suggesting a remedy or curative action. The classic example is one of headache, which can have innumerable potential causes, including ... Views: 560
In traditional yogas that describe the opening of the chakras, the kundalini energy moves up systematically from the root chakra, Muladhara, successively through each chakra until it reaches the crown of the head where it joins with the Divine, universal consciousness. Thus, one of the very ... Views: 560