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- Ascent and Integration Define Spiritual Progress for the Seeker - by Submitted on Nov 25, 2025 from santosh krinskyTransforming human nature does not happen overnight. There are thus periods when the spiritual force is actively experienced and descending into the being; and then, there are other periods where it needs to adjust the responses of the mind, the life energy and the physical body to both hold and ...
Views: 103 - The Practitioner of the Integral Yoga Will Face Difficulties, Obstructions and Challenges With the Support of the Divine Force to Meet Them and Overcome Them - by Submitted on Nov 24, 2025 from santosh krinskyIn Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol, Sri Aurobindo poses the question: ‘How shall he cure the ills he never felt’, in reference to the world redeemer’s task. There is a truth here that impacts every disciple and devotee of the integral yoga. Sri Aurobnido has set the objective as the ...
Views: 132 - The Value of the Witness Consciousness in the Yogic Endeavour - by Submitted on Nov 23, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe witness consciousness is an extremely useful mode for the seeker to adopt in any attempt to overcome the limitations and deformations of the external nature, whether to try to attain liberation and release from the world, or, as Sri Aurobindo suggests, to work toward the eventual divinsation ...
Views: 101 - The True Foundation of the Yoga - by Submitted on Nov 22, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe are generally so tied to our external ego-personality that we identify with it as what we consider to be our ‘self’. We then refer to this body-life-mind complex as our reality and we say that we ‘have a soul’. The reality is far different. The reality is that the soul, the psychic being, ...
Views: 94 - Standing Back from the Reactions of the External Nature - by Submitted on Nov 21, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe action of the three Gunas rules our external nature. Rajas active in the vital being tends to fixate on the fulfillment and satisfaction of desires of whatever kind. Desires, however, cannot ever be fully satisfied as the fulfillment of a desire simply increases the vital’s push for more. A ...
Views: 103 - Distinguishing and Addressing Undivine and Antidivine Forces - by Submitted on Nov 20, 2025 from santosh krinskyThere is a real difference in motivation and intention between what may be considered to be ignorant responses, and those that are malignant. Seekers face a difficulty or some resistance in the external nature constantly. For the most part, this resistance is due to the long embedded habits and ...
Views: 105 - The Needed Effort to Resolve the Deformations of the Lower Vital Nature - by Submitted on Nov 19, 2025 from santosh krinskyIn his application of yoga as applied psychology, Sri Aurobindo identifies a number of different planes and parts of the being that make up the human individual. There are various levels of mind, vital being and physical being. Each level carries out specific types of functions and responds to ...
Views: 108 - The Spiritual Seeker Should Focus on the Aspiration and Recognize Weaknesses Without Obsessing About Them - by Submitted on Nov 19, 2025 from santosh krinskyObsessing about failures, weaknesses, lapses, and obstructions can turn into a full-time occupation! All of human nature has to be taken up and modified, transformed or outright rejected for the next evolutionary manifestation to fully take up its role in the life of the planet. All seekers ...
Views: 109 - Methods for Achieving a Silent Mind During Meditation - by Submitted on Nov 17, 2025 from santosh krinskyBring the mind to a state of quiescence is essential for the practice of meditation. Once an individual is able to achieve this state during meditation, it is a next step to carry that silent mind into the external life. People frequently ask how it is possible to have a silent nind at any time ...
Views: 134 - The Difficulty and Time Required for the Transformation of the Nature - by Submitted on Nov 16, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe make ‘new year’s resolutions’ with the idea that we will start the new year with a fresh dedication to undertaking some kind of change to our lives. This may be a mental change, such as a willingness to listen and try to truly understand what others say and think rather than jumping in our ...
Views: 97 - Identifying and Addressing Obstacles Through Inner Development for Spiritual Progress - by Submitted on Nov 15, 2025 from santosh krinskyIt is a somewhat natural tendency in human nature to blame others, or circumstances, or fate, when obstacles arise. We tend to bemoan how ‘unfair’ life can be. We see conspiracies and power structures that are preventing us from accomplishing what it is that we believe we are meant to ...
Views: 110 - Patience, Perseverance and Firm Faith Are Needed Qualities on the Long Road of Yoga - by Submitted on Nov 14, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe seeker gets glimpses of spiritual opening, experiences of a vastness and a deep silence when the mind falls utterly still. He may get a vision of forces and powers that act in the world and in himself. He may get the sense that he is crossing a threshold into a space where he no longer ...
Views: 109 - The Main Conditions of Preparation for the Supramental Change - by Submitted on Nov 14, 2025 from santosh krinskyIn a brief compass, Sri Aurobindo outlines the attitude to be assumed and the nature of the work to be done to prepare the being for the consummation of the path of the integral Yoga. Sri Aurobindo writes: "Get the psychic being in front and keep it there, putting its power on the mind, vital ...
Views: 108 - How can one overcome karma according to Hindu philosophy and avoid or rectify bad karma in this life? - by Submitted on Nov 13, 2025 from Dada BhagwanThe science of karma It is simply the science of cause & effect Karmas are the actions (causes) and the fruits of karma are its reactions (effects). The rules of karma are such that when you create karma, the resultant effect comes naturally and automatically. The resultant effect is ...
Views: 115 - Self-Surrender in Principle and Self-Surrender in Detail - by Submitted on Nov 12, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhen the seeker takes up the path of yoga and surrender of the ego-consciousness to the Divine, he identifies himself with the psychic being, the soul entity, in his being and makes the offering from that part of his being. What is frequently not recognised however is that the human being is ...
Views: 109 - “Are We There Yet?” - by Submitted on Nov 11, 2025 from santosh krinskyJust about anyone who has experienced a long trip with young children will relate to the question ‘Are We There Yet?’. Ten minutes into the journey, and every 5 or 10 minutes thereafter, the children ask if we are at the destination yet. They have no realistic sense of time, distance or process. ...
Views: 104 - Finding the Poise of the Consciousness Needed for the Practice of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Nov 10, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe spiritual seeker, starting from the ego-consciousness, wants to identify progress and success in the sadhana. The operation of the 3 Gunas, the qualities of Nature, impact the seeker’s view and orientation towards the process. There is a distinct difference between a psychic aspiration and ...
Views: 107 - The Effort of the Spiritual Seeker in Distinguishing the Action of the Divine Force from the Promptings of the Ego - by Submitted on Nov 08, 2025 from santosh krinskyA constant concern for spiritual aspirants is to distinguish the divine Will from their own ego-personality’s desires or ambitions. The vital nature has the uncanny ability to convince the mind that what it desires is actually something that can and should be justified, and once the mind adheres ...
Views: 115 - Overcoming Self-Doubt and Fear of Incapacity in the Spiritual Endeavour - by Submitted on Nov 07, 2025 from santosh krinskySpiritual seekers throughout the ages have been confronted with internal anguish about whether they actually have the capacity and ability to succeed in their spiritual endeavour. They go through periods of enthusiasm and joy as they feel the spiritual force working in them, bringing them ...
Views: 114 - The Psychic Being Senses the Divine Presence and Guidance - by Submitted on Nov 06, 2025 from santosh krinskyEverything we experience is sensed or felt by some developed capacity or part of the being. Vibrations that occur within the ranges of the electro-magnetic spectrum that human beings can perceive are identified as light, colors, sound, etc. We have senses of taste, touch and smell, similarly ...
Views: 111 - The Focus Needed for Success in the Practice of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Nov 05, 2025 from santosh krinskyEvery path of Yoga has its own methodologies and expected results, just as every discipline or focus in the external activities have their own methodologies and expected results. An individual can train for sports, for proficiency in a particular science, or even for learning skills in social ...
Views: 111 - The Spiritual Aspirant’s Opening to the Action of the Spiritual Force - by Submitted on Nov 04, 2025 from santosh krinskyThere are many things in the world that we cannot directly observe with our senses, yet which we otherwise believe to be real, based on the noticeable and palpable effects they have. We cannot ‘see’ gravity, but we feel its effects. Similarly, we cannot ‘see’ electricity, but we not only can ...
Views: 107 - The Principle Thing in the Practice of Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Nov 03, 2025 from santosh krinskyIn his book The Mother, Sri Aurobindo provides a detailed roadmap for understanding the relatively simple idea that one must have the ‘will to overcome all attachments’, etc. In order to do this, we need to be able to appreciate what is meant by ‘attachments’. Most people would associate this ...
Views: 109 - The Flame of Aspiration, the Mystic Fire - by Submitted on Nov 02, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe Rig Veda has a large number of hymns to Agni, the mystic fire. Sri Aurobindo translated and commented on the hymns to Agni in his book, Hymns to the Mystic Fire. The importance of the mystic fire, which we may call the flame of aspiration for the spiritual seeker is evidenced by both the ...
Views: 105 - The Secret of Success in Spiritual Sadhana Is to Maintain the Aspiration and Focus and Never Give Up - by Submitted on Nov 01, 2025 from santosh krinskyFailure turns out to be the stepping stone to success. We tend to become obsessed with being ‘perfect’ in the spiritual sadhana. We identify things we should be thinking, things we should be doing, ways we should be acting and responding to situations, and create for ourselves a set of rules or ...
Views: 110 - Personal Effort and Divine Action in the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Oct 31, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhen we reflect on the action of the Divine Force, and its ability to impact the individual and transform aspects of his life, we are frequently met with the skepticism of those who do not have the experience. How can one explain colors to a person who is blind from birth? How can music be ...
Views: 112 - Personal Effort in Service of the Divine Is an Initial Step Towards Complete Shift to the Divine Standpoint - by Submitted on Oct 30, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe normal human action is based in the ego-consciousness. We act as if we are fully independent, making our own decisions based on our own criteria, needs and concerns. We treat ourselves as something of a self-standing actor, working to survive in a somewhat hostile world and environment, ...
Views: 93 - People say karma is linked to reincarnation, but research has found no connection. Why? - by Submitted on Oct 30, 2025 from Dada BhagwanThe reason why researchers have not discovered the connection between rebirth and karma are: - They have not found a spiritual teacher who can give them the enlightened vision which brings closure and validation to their research. - They too are trapped in this cycle of karma and ...
Views: 108 - Personal Effort Needed in Spiritual Practice and the Action of the Divine Force - by Submitted on Oct 29, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe spiritual seeker starts out from the standpoint of the human individual, the ego-consciousness. The process of spiritual development involves a systematic shift of the standpoint to the divine standpoint. This process does not occur overnight, and does not proceed ‘automatically’ but ...
Views: 117 - The Cure for the Spiritual Aspirant for Doubt, Guilt, Feelings of Unsuitability and Despair - by Submitted on Oct 28, 2025 from santosh krinskyAs long as we base ourselves in the individual personal identity, what we term the ‘ego-consciousness’ we are subject to mistakes, failures, indiscretions, and other situations where we do not meet our own internal concept of what we ‘should’ do. Most of this is based on the background and ...
Views: 112 - Actualizing the Surrender to the Divine in All the Parts of the Being - by Submitted on Oct 27, 2025 from santosh krinskyParticularly when we are predominantly seated in our mental consciousness, we tend to believe that 'knowing' something with our minds represents 'knowing' it in its reality. We gain what may be called the arrogance of the mental consciousness. We soon learn, however, that mental knowledge is not ...
Views: 118 - Sincerity in the Aspiration Is the Basis of the Divine Life - by Submitted on Oct 27, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe ego-consciousness is deeply embedded in each human individual, through the evolutionary process that created the ego as a mechanism for individuation and self-awareness, as the mental phase of this process took shape over long periods of time. The ego provided a needed framework to allow ...
Views: 122 - Reliance on the Divine Power Rather Than on the Individual Mind and Will - by Submitted on Oct 26, 2025 from santosh krinskyA strong mental consciousness and will may aid the individual in determining a way forward, but they are not the powers that can eventually succeed in the yogic process. If we view the yoga of Nature, we find that as a new power emerges, it brings with it unique, new ways of dealing with the ...
Views: 121 - How to Change Human Nature - by Submitted on Oct 24, 2025 from santosh krinskyHuman beings have struggled in their attempts to make changes to human nature throughout human history. Many approaches have been tried, including adopting tough disciplines, isolating oneself from society to avoid the impulses and temptations, as well as harsh tortures to which the body has ...
Views: 122 - Spiritual Development Through Action of the Divine Force Rather Than Through Purely Personal Effort - by Submitted on Oct 23, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe are wrapped up in the ego-consciousness from the moment we take birth. The entire societal structure, as well as the weight of millennia of evolutionary development to create an entity that could develop the powers of the vital and mental being as a self-aware and seemingly independent being, ...
Views: 111 - The Means of Focus and Receptivity in the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Oct 22, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe human instrument is essentially a receiver. Through the various energy centres, vibrational patterns are picked up. Most of what is received is not consciously attended to, but it has its subtle impact. The human being is able to respond to a limited range of vibrations on the ...
Views: 122 - Active Versus Passive Forms of Surrender to the Divine - by Submitted on Oct 21, 2025 from santosh krinskyIn his book, The Mother, Sri Aurobindo distinguishes between the needed attitude of surrender to the Divine and what he terms a 'tamasic surrender'. "Note that a tamasic surrender refusing to fulfil the conditions and calling on God to do everything and save one all the trouble and struggle is a ...
Views: 118 - The True Attitude of Sadhana - by Submitted on Oct 19, 2025 from santosh krinskyMost 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: 119 - The Divine Intention and Will Goes Beyond the Human Ability to Conceive and Grasp It - by Submitted on Oct 19, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe try to judge situations and events from our human understanding. We do not generally see the chain of cause and effect that led to a specific circumstance, nor the impact of the result that we observe on future events. We see things from our own narrow egoistic viewpoint and judge them based ...
Views: 124 - Beyond Mental Ideas to Spiritual Experience - by Submitted on Oct 17, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe human mind is always at work, trying to figure out what life is all about, where we came from, why we are here, what we are to do, what lies in the future. We have developed a countless number of ideas, philosophies, religious concepts, and we become adherents to those that make sense to our ...
Views: 120 - The Complete Dedication and Consecration Required by the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Oct 16, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe integral yoga is not a ‘hobby’ or ‘pastime’ to be taken up when convenient. It requires an intensity of dedication and focus, and a depth of aspiration and consecration that is both rare and difficult to achieve. An individual needs to be fully immersed in the yoga and its processes in order ...
Views: 153 - Introduction to the Higher Levels of Consciousness Beyond the Mind - by Submitted on Oct 16, 2025 from santosh krinskyWestern psychology has begun to explore the levels and ‘realms’ of mind. This study has been going on for many hundreds, if not thousands, of years in India, where the psychological framework of ‘inner space’ has been a key focus of yogic psychology. Western study started with the mental powers ...
Views: 119 - Necessary Conditions for the Transformation of the Physical Body - by Submitted on Oct 13, 2025 from santosh krinskyWhen the body experiences an influx of energy, for whatever source, it frequently finds that it cannot ‘hold’ that energy and must find a release for it. This may be expressed as some form of twitching or moving of the limbs, nervous drumming with the fingers, uncontrolled activity of the facial ...
Views: 119 - Addressing Depression and Vital Struggle in the Yogic Practice By Building Calm and Equality in Mind, Life and Body - by Submitted on Oct 12, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe play of the Gunas in the external nature explains the various reactions, moods and psychological states we experience. This is true not just in the ordinary life of the individual in society, but also for those who take up the practice of Yoga. The patterns of reaction based in the action of ...
Views: 135 - The Total Change of the Nature Cannot Be Done in a Day - by Submitted on Oct 11, 2025 from santosh krinskyModern 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: 123 - Insights About the Need for Strength and Flexibility in the Practice of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Oct 10, 2025 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo makes several essential points here that bear some reflection. First, the need for strength in all the parts of the being. Until it actually begins to happen to an individual, he has no idea about the power of the Divine Force descending into the being and what impact it has on the ...
Views: 124 - Sadhana in the Path of Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Oct 09, 2025 from santosh krinskyWith its focus on transformation of body, life and mind through the descent, development and expression of the next term in the evolution of consciousness, the integral yoga sets a different aim than other paths of yoga, which tend to focus on individual liberation, salvation or ...
Views: 123 - Spiritual Experience Impacting the External Being - by Submitted on Oct 08, 2025 from santosh krinskySpiritual experiences are not purely subjective events impacting the mind or the emotions. They can also take on a very concrete form that impacts the vital nature and the physical body. Because of a general mental, religious and social bias against what appear to be unusual experiences, many ...
Views: 129 - Spiritual Experience Beyond the Mind - by Submitted on Oct 07, 2025 from santosh krinskyIn his epic poem Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol, Sri Aurobindo states: “God shall grow up while the wise men talk and sleep.” Until an individual has an actual experience of an inward state of consciousness, or that of the silent mind, or one in which the experience is that of an uninvolved ...
Views: 120 - Remaining Calm in the Face of Difficulties and Opposition - by Submitted on Oct 06, 2025 from santosh krinskyFacing the difficulties and obstacles presented by the external world to our ego-personality, we frequently become disturbed and react with anger, frustration or some other indication of a lack of peace. We tend to “become” the reaction. Someone cuts in front of us on the road and we become ...
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