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Many paths of spiritual practice disregard the needs of the physical body as being irrelevant, distracting, or obstructive to their spiritual development. This has not always been the case. The ancient Greek culture focused on a ‘sound mind in a sound body’ as an ideal. The ancient Vedic ... Views: 37
People tend to get very defensive about the idea of celibacy, sexual abstinence, Brahmacharya, however it may be termed. They argue that it is unhealthy. They argue that this is a process in Nature that ensures the continuity of the race, they argue that the suppression of sexual expression ... Views: 64
We have numerous historical anecdotes about individuals who were creative and productive in their own field, but who had elements of their being that seemingly could not hold the creative force easily and devoted into various forms of dissipation when they were not directly engaged in their ... Views: 353
To effectuate a total transformation of the mind-life-body and its action in the world, it is necessary for the seeker to address and solve the issue of the vital being, its desires, and the ego-standpoint that it fosters and maintains.
Methods that essentially try to fight with the vital ... Views: 596
Complete sincerity, inwardly and outwardly, is something that does not generally happen overnight. There are too many habits, instncts and trained responses that control the way the external nature responds to expect that the mental, vital and physical elements of the being will not only accept ... Views: 137
We start from the ego-consciousness and we treat ourselves, from that standpoint, as independent, separate and “walled off” from all other beings, interacting with them from our insulated status. When we then turn to spiritual growth and development from this standpoint, we start by looking at ... Views: 290
Whenever anything happens in the world, the senses capture the vibrations and send them up the nervous channels to the brain where they are they interpreted and responded to. When the nervous system is sensitive and overly responsive it may vibrate continuously and not let up. This creates an ... Views: 173
Brute force has often been employed by aspirants seeking to overcome the ‘desires of the flesh’ and the obstructions of the physical consciousness to their spiritual focus and seeking. Extreme fasting, wearing of the cilice or sackcloth, arduous penances in the desert, self-flagellation, ... Views: 603
Every part of the being eventually has to open and become receptive to the higher spiritual forces. This will lead to changes in the way these aspects of the external being respond and function. This is a progressive process over time. If the lower vital parts of the being get a surge of energy ... Views: 48
The mental consciousness tends to look at things with a linear perspective. It expects things to systematically roll out in a continuous, directed stream. It becomes upset and disoriented when what appears to be a settled result gets suddenly disrupted or upset by new circumstances, forces or ... Views: 166
Fear opens up pathways for whatever is feared to enter the being, as it creates a vibrational ‘link’ between the individual and the feared event or circumstance. Fear also opens holes int he vital envelope, or aura, that helps protect the individual from catching illnesses. We have all heard of ... Views: 753
The vital nature in particular has a strong hold over the mentality. It uses this hold to find ways for the mind to justify various things that the vital desires. In many cases this occurs through a process of deflection and in others through a process of development of excuses and ... Views: 155
The normal human viewpoint in today’s world is one of separate individuality. We believe, based on that viewpoint, that we are free and independent and make our own choices exercising our free will. In actuality, however, this is not quite true. All relationships in society involve subtle vital ... Views: 587
The objectives of the integral yoga cannot be looked at as a short-term ‘sprint’ to the goal, but as a longer-term ‘marathon’ where patience and endurance are of paramount importance. In order to achieve that long-term commitment without flagging of the effort, without discouragement and without ... Views: 844
Sri 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 ... Views: 649
Ramadan holds exceptional significance for every Muslim. It’s the month in which Allah Almighty blesses with infinitely many benefits, rewards, and bounties. Fasting for the complete 29-30 days in Ramadan from dawn to dusk is a religious obligation for all the adult, physically and mentally fit ... Views: 977
Chatbots have arisen as a transformation over the most recent couple of years, and practically all assistance enterprises have accepted them with great enthusiasm. In this article today, let us view how AI chatbots are coming up as a significant pattern in the avionics business and profiting a ... Views: 752
A written scripture or teaching may help direct the focus of the mind and the heart toward the realisation to be gained. No book, however, can replace the experience, and an intellectual understanding does not constitute spiritual knowledge. Spiritual experience comes through receptivity to the ... Views: 458
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: 225
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: 128
Taking the right attitude when feelings of failure or depression arise in the course of the spiritual practice is essential to navigate through these moods with the least disruption. Sri Aurobindo implies that the standpoint should be in the separate witness consciousness, which he distinguishes ... Views: 129
The ancient Greek philosopher Plato described the method of teaching utilized by Socrates, known today as the “Socratic method”. Socrates understood that education was not the process of stuffing knowledge into an individual, but rather, as the root of the word ‘education’ implies, a drawing out ... Views: 475
In the yoga sutras of Patanjali, the power of concentration is extolled. In particular, the one-pointed concentration on any particular object unites the seeker with the object such that they become one. At that point, all of the secrets of the object are delivered up to the person undertaking ... Views: 230
There are different kinds of engraved plaques for any budget and occasion. They come in different material and size choices. You can choose either laser metal, solid wood or glass. Every plaque can be customized with your logo and text. You can upload your desired information to a skilled, ... Views: 767
In the opening chapter of The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo sets forth the proposition that “… all problems of existence are essentially problems of harmony.” We can see the reality of this statement both in the way we respond internally to circumstances, events and our reactions to them, as well ... Views: 498
We all have loses in our lives or times where we feel deeply about a situation or experience. There was a time in my life that I blocked myself from feeling my experiences deeply. I would actually apologize for having them.I just stuffed them down and didn’t allow myself to feel. The mindset for ... Views: 1368
Great thinkers of the world like Kant, Hegel, Aristotle etc accept that a certain supreme authority exists which has created this world. And yet they were unable to throw light fully in this realm of thought. All the religions of the world like Christianity, Hinduism, Islam etc accept that God ... Views: 1391
The Mother advises us that we are generally not aware of the action of all the subtle forces and how they interact to cause circumstances that occur in the external world. She further notes that with awareness, many accidents could be avoided. This reminds us of an incident reported some time ... Views: 279
I would first like to dwell on the conditions necessary for life to exist.
We have air. The plant takes out carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and replaces it with oxygen for other creatures to breath. The herbivores keep the plants in check as the predatory animals keep them in check. The ... Views: 1058
The Taittiriya Upanishad presents a methodology or practice to gain direct knowledge of the Eternal. The seeker is asked to practice tapasya, variously translated as concentration in thought, or concentration of force by Sri Aurobindo. Tapasya cannot be easily or completely understood through ... Views: 329
The quest to understand the nature of consciousness, and “who am I?” spans back through the past history of mankind. Some of the exercises undertaken by the ancient sages remain relevant into the current day, as the Mother illustrates in her example below, which derives i its original form from ... Views: 496
Once we recognise that we cannot trust the mental faculty to keep the vital desire-soul in check, the question arises as to how it is then possible to truly examine the underlying motives and wellsprings of our thoughts, feelings and actions without falling victim to the kind of bias that the ... Views: 538
An Expanding Consciousness Recognises the Inherent Oneness and Mutuality of All Existence
Posted on December 9, 2024
When we identify with the ego personality, we view the world as being separate and apart from ourselves, and we look at other beings as either competition for resources or ... Views: 224
Usually when most people go to sleep, they simply ‘let it happen’. This carries with it all of the mental, emotional, vital-nervous, and physical energy pent up in the being at the time, into the sleep state. Add to this mix the state of fatigue that prevails, and it can lead to restless, or ... Views: 545
The ability to concentrate the mind allows us to function in the world in a coherent manner and to create results in whatever field the concentration takes up. Without concentration, the mind would jump from one perception, one impression, one idea to another randomly and instantaneously as new ... Views: 467
As the seeker begins to shift the consciousness inward, he becomes aware of forces, powers, and realms that are the native venues for our physical, vital and mental energies and activities, as well as existing in and by their own form of reality and under rules that do not necessarily match up ... Views: 441
Without even thinking about it, we are programmed to bargain with the Divine. We carry expectations, we want our desires to be fulfilled. We care about immediate and positive feedback for the efforts we are making and the sacrifices we are undergoing for the Divine. We will agree to devote ... Views: 184
Ancora Imparo, Still Learning the True Freedom
In a sketch of Father Time, Michelangelo inscribed beside a child’s carriage, “Still I learn.” This was nearing the end of this life, the great master, yet “Still I learn.”
Ancora Imparo, is a fantastic way to re-create your life and find the ... Views: 1219
To begin, he paid extra interest to real bees, but he also grew to become extra
mindful of them in other means. Quickly soon after our
psychic reading, he noticed a
flyer to get a humane society fundraiser on which a bee was touchdown over a
canine’s nose. Cute graphic, certainly, but ... Views: 1381
We frequently try to ‘know’ things based on a particular capacity of our being; however, this may not always be the correct way to appreciate and understand what is actually taking place. Trying to understand music, for instance, by applying the logical intellect and trying to parse the sounds, ... Views: 282
One of the key elements of Raja Yoga, based on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is the practice of samyama, which is a one-pointed concentration that is so complete that it merges subject, object and the process of knowing into one unified whole. By this practice, one knows everything about the ... Views: 247
How do we determine whether there is any such thing as a ‘yoga-force’? Some treat it as a form of self-delusion, some as hypnotic suggestion, some as some form of ‘placebo effect’ of the mind, some as simply the action of other forces that we simply define as ‘yoga-force’ without any objective ... Views: 332
“The liberation of the individual soul is therefore the keynote of the definite divine action; it is the primary divine necessity and the pivot on which all else turns.” This is the first step but what must also be recognized is that as individuals here and there achieve new states of ... Views: 507
When I was young, probably five years old or so, I was given a chocolate brown dress. You might wonder the significance of this brown dress because what little girl wears brown? What a boring color for a little girl! Well, the adornment on the dress was stripes of aqua colored piping which ran ... Views: 1959
Islam is the most practiced religion in the world. Muslims are present in almost every region of the world. It is the psychology of every Muslims to get to know about their religion, its aspects. It is the Interest of the People to get to know about the events which occurred in the Islam, and ... Views: 1083
The normal mental process begins relatively simply. We hear something and accept it in our minds, and eventually we repeat the thought to others and thus, a thought-form moves through the mental atmosphere and touches many minds. Teilhard de Chardin referred to the mental force permeating the ... Views: 336
The popular imagination about the existence and characteristics of vampires has developed from the famous novel by Bram Stoker, Dracula. From that book we get the picture of beings that survive many hundreds of years, who are shapeshifters , and who drink the blood of their victims, preferably ... Views: 317
Great Spiritual Teachers have always counseled humanity that the world has meaning. Our soul has descended from the divine, and it has come here with an attainable purpose - a need for worldly experience, spiritual awakening, and perfection, before it returns once again to the divine. They tell ... Views: 2375
We tend to start our conscious spiritual quest from the external standpoint of our ego-personality and the mental, vital and physical complex we have developed during our lives. Something has opened up within us that causes us to begin the process. As we begin to have various experiences that go ... Views: 14
Theoretically, being an empathic or clairsentient being is the same thing, however, one has a heightened sense. The term empath, or being empathic, seems to be the buzzword over the last 10 to 15 years. Whether this is due to the advanced population of crystal, rainbow, and indigo children, or ... Views: 2400