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We bring into this life many propensities as well as genetic tendencies, which are compounded and accentuated by early learning that takes place in the family and in the society. Prenatal influences as well as learning that takes place after the birth process and in the very early childhood ... Views: 535
We tend to not only identify with the values of our family, our country, our religion, but we also internalize the standpoint taken by them, so that we view situations, actions and reactions, and history through the lens of this standpoint. This of course can create a highly biased viewpoint of ... Views: 567
As if the genetic, prenatal and neonatal influence, and the habits and customs of the society into which one is born is not sufficient burden to have to deal with as it rises up from the subconscient levels of our being, we also have to address the current influences provided through peer ... Views: 529
When we are focused on our external being, we tend not to recognise that forces unseen actually not only impact how and what we perceive, understand, and respond to impressions and pressures, but actually very much define who we believe we are. There are forces that are subconscient to our ... Views: 71
It is typical for human beings to associate their knowledge, their artistic achievements, their skills as something they create within themselves. They tether the ego-consciousness to all such developments, believing that somehow they are unique and special in terms of the ability to create ... Views: 390
What we actively perceive and pay attention to with our waking consciousness is a very small portion of the entire pattern of energetic forces we are constantly subjected to, and which act upon us, unseen and unrecognised. Whether it is physical radiation, vital forces, or mental thought-forms, ... Views: 447
Our surface awareness is basically the ‘tip of the iceberg’. Most of what takes place in our being occurs outside of the range of our active external perception of the senses and mental awareness. Even the interactions with the external reality we experience represent only a small fraction of ... Views: 438
One of the reasons that spiritual seekers have traditionally been advised to seek solitude and not engage in society is that there is a constant, subliminal interchange that takes place between all human beings. We generally do not notice it, but on an energetic, a vibrational level, we are ... Views: 315
We tend to pay attention to the various forms of external communication that take place between people. Written, verbal, and visual non-verbal cues through body language or expression, are all considered to be the major means of creating a relation between individuals. What we do not always ... Views: 371
When looked at from the outside, it seems that Matter came first and out of Matter arose Life and out of Life arose Mind. What is not addressed here is how material forces were able to create life and intelligence, in a seemingly random fashion. This is why some religious traditions posit that ... Views: 482
In the Taittiriya Upanishad, a seeker undertakes a discipline to discover the truth of existence. He first lands upon the idea thta the material existence is the truth, as it is the basis and foundation of his existence. As he continues his concentration, however, he begins to realize that the ... Views: 467
It is a typical belief that through the use of logic, argument or some kind of pressure that is exerted, through perhaps an enforced dogma or belief system, that opinions and beliefs can be changed. It is true that the power of an idea may capture an individual’s focus and support. It is also ... Views: 596
When Bram Stoker wrote his classic ‘horror’ tale, Dracula, he popularized and sensationalized an actual phenomenon of vital interchange that operates mostly unnoticed and not as sensationally as his tale implies. To put it in simple terms, ‘vampirism’ is the ability of someone to utilise the ... Views: 341
When we see deeply religious or spiritual people, we expect to see people who are serious, reserved and who carry an air of distance from the things of the world. This expectation has been so deeply embedded in the human psyche that we almost unconsciously take up this attitude when we tread the ... Views: 142
For many people, the religious life or the spiritual path is considered to be extremely serious and cheerfulness is considered to be some kind of frivolity, not becoming to the serious nature of the endeavour. They make spiritual practice into a harsh discipline and struggle with difficulties ... Views: 515
The integral yoga works to shift the standpoint from the ego to the divine consciousness. As that is accomplished, the focus on the ego-personality and its suffering and difficulties and the feelings it is experiencing are reduced or entirely removed. The being is absorbed in the divine ... Views: 570
Just as the electro-magnetic spectrum has ranges below those that we can consciously receive and translate, as well as ranges above those we can utilize, so also consciousness has ranges below and above our limits. The ranges below our limits are called subconscient and inconscient. Those above ... Views: 423
Nietzsche espoused the idea that the ‘superior man’ was, by definition, ‘beyond good and evil’ and was therefore not bound by the rules of society. This concept has led a number of people into serious trouble. Dostoevsky explored this idea in his novel Crime and Punishment, in which the ... Views: 390
The human mind has difficulty imagining the possibility of an entirely new direction for evolutionary development, and tends to try to “read” the future by extrapolation from the present and the past. Thus, we see Nietzsche describing the “superman” as someone who has a higher mental ... Views: 447
As we begin to experience realms of awareness other than that of our current primary body-life-mind complex, we can begin to appreciate that there are further, higher states of conscious awareness that can be experienced, and which have powers of insight, and ways of working that are far ... Views: 320
The mental, vital and physical levels of consciousness are fundamentally limited by their basis in division and fragmentation. They see and categorize their understanding in a way that emphasizes the separateness of the forces at work and the consequences. This makes it impossible to understand ... Views: 411
For much of human history, spirituality has been looked upon as a contradiction of an active life in the world. The anchorite in the desert, the renunciate, the Sannyasin, the monk or nun in the cloister are held up to us as the examples of dedication to spiritual growth and purpose. All of ... Views: 430
For much of human history, spirituality has been looked upon as a contradiction of an active life in the world. The anchorite in the desert, the renunciate, the Sannyasin, the monk or nun in the cloister are held up to us as the examples of dedication to spiritual growth and purpose. All of ... Views: 363
The “master race”, the “white man’s burden”, “white supremacy”, “manifest destiny”, the “superman” of Nietzsche all represent past attempts of the mind to translate the urge to transcend the limits of the human mind-life-body and assert power and control over the society through what may be ... Views: 464
Until such time as we become capable of drawing infinite energy from the universal force of creation, we have the issue of choosing how we utilize the energy that we have available to us. Through certain types of practices we can actually increase the available energy. The radical transformation ... Views: 86
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: 192
Human awareness can be compared to an iceberg on the physical plane. The iceberg appears small and insignificant above the surface of the ocean, yet it is massive below the surface, as was found out by the ‘unsinkable’ cruise ship, the Titanic during its maiden voyage. Similarly, the awareness ... Views: 393
We focus our attention and awareness on the external world in which we are active. We receive impressions, sensations, vibrations, impulsions and pressures from that world and it fixes our mind on that palpable experience of reality. This is however not the entirely of our existence nor of the ... Views: 390
Development in our world of existence takes place in a sequential manner, systematically developing the physical framework, the body, and then manifesting the vital, life-force and developing its powers, adding in thereafter the mental layer and subsequently, we see the signs that further stages ... Views: 569
A frequently mentioned method in the practice of the integral yoga is the separation of the Witness Consciousness from the Nature (Purusha and Prakriti). This separation allows the seeker to recognise the surface consciousness, the play of body, life and mind based in the ego-sense as separate ... Views: 405
There is a factor of enjoyment of taste of various foods which is called rasa in Sanskrit. We experience this when we eat something that excites our taste buds and sends signals of pleasure to the brain. For many people, the sweet taste, and more particularly the taste of rich chocolate, seems ... Views: 79
Everywhere we turn we see mounting crises. The news reports are dire. Climate disasters are increasing, we are poisoned daily by toxic substances in our food, water and the very air we breathe. On a day-to-day level, we are struggling in a world that seems to be impossible to understand, with ... Views: 323
The setting of Sri Krishna’s teaching to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, symbolizing the ‘battle of life’ is an essential message to all who seek to progress in their spiritual growth and development. We do not normally associate a battlefield as the place to learn about our spiritual ... Views: 617
The inner control of thoughts is a further development once the poise of the witness consciousness has been attained. As the seeker observes the thoughts, he can also determine their effect in the being, and see if they lead to uplifting, widening, and harmonizing results, or whether they shrink ... Views: 518
Endurance can be trained and developed. There are entire philosophical programs that have developed to systematically help an individual face the pressures and circumstances of the world with a sense of equality and equanimity. Some of these disciplines rely on acclimating the body to handle ... Views: 259
Spiritual aspirants, just as all others in the world, are impacted by the play of the three Gunas the qualities of Nature. These qualities are always in movement, constantly combining, jostling one another, becoming predominant, and then being suppressed as the next movement arises. We can see ... Views: 589
The actions that take place in the external world are controlled by the action of the three Gunas, or qualities, of Nature. This includes not only the physical nature, but also the vital nature and the mental nature. There is what we may call a ‘machinery’ of Nature that drives the creation ... Views: 327
When the seeker becomes aware of the need for consecration and the aspiration awakens within him, he can become very impatient with the obstacles put up by the ego as it works to maintain and enhance its position. After all, the ego has developed over long periods of time as a stage toward ... Views: 663
Modern life moves at high speed. We expect things to take place virtually instantaneously. As a result, we judge things in the light of the time it takes to accomplish them. If we have to expend an effort, we hope and expect that we will immediately begin to see palpable results. We want an ... Views: 115
The seer of the Taittiriya Upanishad identified various planes of ever more subtle and powerful consciousness, with the most subtle and powerful being the ultimate causative agent of the denser and lower formations of Matter, Life and Mind. If we look at the experience of the vedic seers, we ... Views: 330
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: 581
For 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: 688
With the development of the mental being in evolution, we can observe the central leadership role that the mind plays in dealing with the vital and physical levels of our existence. The mental being, however, is limited by its strict framework and sequential process, and thus, is something like ... Views: 537
The Tree Embraces Its True Nature
The secrets of creation may be found within the infinite wisdom of a tree.
A tree can teach us much more than we may even come to know. When we are challenged by situations that seem insurmountable to us, the tree provides a gentle comfort through its ... Views: 932
In order to carry out the complex creation, the Supreme Divine Consciousness has ‘distributed’ the awareness through a series of steps. The first step is the development of the Jivatman, the Divine Presence that does not involve itself directly in the individual beings of the manifestation, but ... Views: 37
People have opinions and argue about what the best way to carry out religious or spiritual practices happens to be. Some believe in various forms of austerities, some concentration, some meditation, some prayer, some devotional service, some selfless work. Some take vows of poverty. Others ... Views: 2
It is a universal human experience that the vital force in the being is either extremely reactive to situations, particularly when it has a desire or craving to fulfill, or, if not given its desire, it can sulk or withdraw its energy and the being goes into a state of torpor or indolence, ... Views: 551
Most people act under the impulsion of their vital desires, physical wants, and mental opinions, which are colored by the society within which an individual lives and its established norms and expectations. When an individual takes up the spiritual life and attempts to live according to the ... Views: 109
Sri Krishna taught Arjuna the lessons of the Bhagavad Gita on a battlefield. The setting is an important aspect of the teaching itself. The inner growth is not dependent on outer events or circumstances. Conditions will always be ‘imperfect’ if not absolutely terrible! Sri Aurobindo and the ... Views: 457
We frequently hear from people who say that they cannot focus on their spiritual practice as they don’t have a quiet space in which to meditate, or they live in a crowded, noisy city, or they are overwhelmed with all their duties relating to education, career, family, etc. They focus their ... Views: 114