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ARTArticleClose Observation Can Identify the Influence of Vital Beings and ForcesOne of the key points in any attempt to change one’s actions or reactions, one’s behaviour or characteristic ways of responding to situations, is to determine, through careful observation, that these things are not an essential part of oneself or one’s character; rather, that they are exte al to oneself, and thus, can be changed or dispensed with more easily than if one accepts their centrality in one’s own being.ARTArticleConcentration Aids Speed and Accuracy in ActionThe human propensity to set up ‘either/or’ scenarios leads us to believe that we either have to focus on ‘perfection’ or ‘speed’ in the things we do. This is actually a false choice because it leaves out the factor of concentration which can accomplish actions with speed while not sacrificing accuracy.ARTArticleConcentration and Remembrance of the DivineIn order to be most effective in its action, the exte al nature must have the capacity of concentration of its efforts. Whether this is a mental concentration, or a vital or physical concentration, the focus must be total, without distraction, or it will yield less than the optimal result.ARTArticleConcentration and the Centres of Energy in the Subtle BodyPeople constantly ask whether they should concentrate focused in the heart, between the eyebrows or above the head. The short answer is “yes”. Each centre of concentration relies on a different power of action. In the end, what is more important is the action of concentration itself. An individual will find that one or another of these centres of concentration provides an opening, or a more powerful action, and he will naturally set his focus in that area.ARTArticleConcentration Helps the Individual Successfully Accomplish More Tasks in Less TimeIt is frequently noted that certain individuals seem to accomplish more, and despite enormous commitments, they seem ready to take on more and do even more than they are doing. On the other hand, there are individuals who seem to have a low threshold of action and they seem to never have the time to take on anything else. The difference is found in the ability to concentrate, focus one’s time and attention, and organize the action to use time optimally. Planning is the first step in taking on more projects. Many things can actually be interwoven together without breaking the concentration.ARTArticleConscious Development of the Psychic Being and its Instruments from Life to LifeFor most individuals, the process of birth, death and rebirth is essentially automatic and out of their conscious control. With the death of the body, the vital being and then the mental being eventually lose their integrity and dissolve as well. The psychic being, with its increasing store of experience, not attached to any particular ego-personality then takes a new birth. The Tibetan Book of the Dead provides a step by step overview of the process and explains how most souls get attracted to their next birth.ARTArticleConscious Powers of Light and Darkness Oppose One Another in the Exte al World We InhabitEverywhere we look, whether in material Nature, or in the vital or mental domains, we see a play of forces, attraction and repulsion, centrifugal and centripetal, positive and negative, dark and light, etc. It appears to be a core principle of the creation to utilize these opposing forces to create the dynamic needed for a progressive evolution of consciousness. Opposition appears to strengthen the forces of growth. We find that trees and plants subjected to somewhat strong winds, for instance tend to root themselves more firmly.ARTArticleConsciousness Pervades All Forms, Beings and Entities in the Universal CreationIn his play Hamlet, William Shakespeare comments on the limitations of the objective mind and its ability to understand existence: ““There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy”. Our mind’s view of the existence of the universe and its significance is blindered by our reliance on what we can observe with our senses, and our ability to correctly organise and interpret what we perceive.ARTArticleConsciousness, Its Powers and the Drive to Discover Our True SelfWhen we try to define consciousness we tend to do it from an individual standpoint, our own state of awareness. From a broader perspective however, we can see that consciousness exceeds both in scope and power, that of the individual status. Western science is moving toward a view that will eventually agree with the insights of the ancient Rishis and sages, as it has definitively determined that Matter is a form of energy, and in fact, maintains immense energy potential locked up in the concentrated form that we call Matter.ARTArticleControlling One’s ImaginationMore frequently than not, the spiritual aspirant has both a great upward aspiration and a corresponding ‘knot’ that he needs to work out which is the counter-part to the upward capacity. It is the dynamic tension between the two that forces him to persevere. He will either given in to the lower impulse or find a way to work it out, dissolve it, eliminate it and realise the highest potentiality of his being.ARTArticleCreating Beneficial Thought Forms and Their Positive ActionWhenever there is some kind of news headline about a major negative event, such as a school shooting, or a catastrophic earthquake or hurricane, we hear major political leaders express “thoughts and prayers” for the victims and their families. Everyone knows that there is no serious force behind this and it is intended to deflect from actually doing anything. It also makes us doubt the efficacy of ‘thoughts and prayers’ at all. Aside from the deliberate hypocrisy at work here, it is clear that no real force of consciousness and development of a powerful thought form was applied at all.ARTArticleDealing With PainIf we look at the mechanism of pain, we find that wherever there is an injury, disease or stress on a part of the body, a ‘vibration’ starts there, in many cases what medical science would call ‘inflammation’, that triggers a nerve impulse to send the signal to the receptors in the brain, where the impulse is then interpreted and experienced as pain.ARTArticleDeterminism in the Exercise of Free Will — Free Will in the Carrying Out of DeterminismWe generally jump to extremes in our way of looking at things from our normal, mental viewpoint. Thus, we either want to accept that everything is absolutely determined and thus, every move we make, every action, every reaction, is choreographed down to the slightest detail; or else, we want to believe that we are totally free and independent and we are basically “self made” in our decisions and actions. The reality however is somewhat more complicated than this view.ARTArticleDeveloping Gnostic Living Amidst a World of OppositionAnother, and serious, issue that arises is the relationship of the gnostic individuals and community to that wider world of humanity and life in general which remains based in the physical, vital and mental principles and thus, continues to operate on the basis of division, fragmentation and the principles of ego and desire. How will emerging gnostic communities both relate to and survive such an encounter?ARTArticleDifferences Between the Practice of Magic and Spiritual ActionIt is an obvious fact that as one grows and develops in the spiritual path, the concentration of conscious force, tapasya, will definitely increase not only the spiritual development, but also the powers that the individual has available to accomplish action in his life in the world. In the past, when spirituality was bifurcated from the outer life, seekers were advised not to utilize the various powers that arose.ARTArticleDistinguishing Magic from OccultismThere is considerable confusion between the concept of occultism and the idea of the practice of magic (whether considered ‘white’ magic or ‘black’ magic). Occultism essential is the science of dealing with forces subliminal to our outer senses, but nevertheless active and acting upon our being. On the material plane, electricity is essentially an occult force, working unseen but having palpable results of its action. Those who learn how to generate, channel and put electricity to work are essentially practicing occultism on the material plane.ARTArticleDistinguishing Rapid Process of Thought from True IntuitionWe occasionally meet people who seem to be highly intuitive. With very few facts, and with a very fast response time, they seem to understand and decide things successfully that we are struggling to deal with, and for which we need considerably more time. In some cases, there may be the functioning of the higher power of intuition, but actually in many cases, there is simply a rapid correlation response going on in the brain. Sometimes this is a matter of experience and instantaneous pattern recognition.ARTArticleDistinguishing Will From Willings“The integral yoga, which involves a deep understanding of the normal psychology of the human being, as well as the impact of the descent of the higher spiritual force to manifest the Divine Will in the manifestation, has to develop its own terminology and specific definitions so as to ensure clear communication and understanding. One such instance of this is distinguishing between ‘will’ and ‘willing’. Will, as a concept, is reserved for the expression of the higher intention in the manifestation.ARTArticleDivine Grace and Cosmic LawThe terms ‘divine grace’, along with ‘cosmic law’ and ‘divine compassion’, are transcriptions into human terms from our human viewpoint of actions and events that take place from an entirely different level of the divine manifestation and with a viewpoint that far exceeds that of our limited human understanding. For example, we tend to look at the world as some kind of machinery that operates under specific strict rules that we treat as inflexible rules, governed by an all-powerful, all-knowing ruler..ARTArticleDivine Will and Divine GraceWhat is the will of the Divine, and how can we know it? The usual answer is some prescription from one religion or another with a doctrine supported by that religious persuasion as being the correct interpretation. In some cases, the Divine Will seems thereby to be in conflict from one religion to another, and we thus set up the battles that have led to more death and suffering in the world than virtually any other cause. The Crusades, the Holy Inquisition are a few examples of men interpreting the Divine Will to support their own ideology.ARTArticleDo the Stars Control Our Destiny?Someone has their astrological chart done, and by that they are able to determine the location of the various planets and the sun and moon and the constellations in relation to their birth. They will learn about the hardships they will face, the major life events they can expect, and the opportunities that lie in front of them. Some people reject the entire concept of astrology, while others treat it as a true relation of their future and take the information they receive from their chart to heart.ARTArticleDo We Create Our Own Thoughts and Feelings?Teilhard de Chardin described what he called a noosphere, a belt of mental energy that encompasses the earth, and which moves vibrations that can be perceived at the mental level and converted into thoughts and thought-forms. This is similar to the biosphere at the level of the life-energy and the ionosphere that protects the planet through absorption and reflection of solar radiation.ARTArticleDo We Have Subtle Sense Organs, Beyond the 5 Physical Senses We Recognise?We are generally so fixated on the impressions we receive through the action of the five physical sense organs, that we fail to recognise that we frequently sense things without these senses providing any input. For instance, people can frequently sense when someone is staring at them, even when they have not seen nor otherwise experienced the presence of that individual. People sometimes experience fear, or horror in certain circumstances that have otherwise no visible cause for alarm.ARTArticleDo We Really Exercise Free Will in Our Lives?Subjectively we tend to believe that we make our own decisions and that we are exercising ‘free will’. What we do not generally do is recognise that there is an entire preceding set of ’causes’ which lead us to the present moment and the very type of choices we make. We may be extremely ‘predictable’ in the regularity of our decision process, or we may be highly unconventional and tend to take the ‘road less travelled’.ARTArticleDoubt and Faith: Resolving the Debate Between Science and ReligionThere has been a long-standing debate between religion and science, centered around the question of faith versus the search for truth through the use of the mind and its powers. This raises several questions, however, about the type and nature of the faith, and the type and nature of the mental action. There is no necessary or irreconcilable division between them, but we need to understand the situation more in depth to find the point where they coexist and actually support one another.ARTArticleDrawing on the Universal Energy for Life-ForceIf we observe the way we receive energy normally, we can determine that the sun is the immediate source of physical energy and it then gets transformed, or converted, into other forms of energy including life energy. The first step in this transformation comes about through the ability of plants to turn solar energy into life-energy. The plants then store the produced energy, using some of it for growth and some for life activities. Animals, in turn consume plants to obtain a share of this physical energy which they need to survive and thrive.ARTArticleDrawing on the Universal Energy for Life-ForceIf we observe the way we receive energy normally, we can determine that the sun is the immediate source of physical energy and it then gets transformed, or converted, into other forms of energy including life energy. The first step in this transformation comes about through the ability of plants to turn solar energy into life-energy. The plants then store the produced energy, using some of it for growth and some for life activities. Animals, in turn consume plants to obtain a share of this physical energy which they need to survive and thrive.ARTArticleEconomic Systems Cannot Solve the Evolutionary CrisisSri Aurobindo continues to explore the various proposed methods for effecting positive change in human life and society so as to confront the evolutionary crisis we see before us. Some have proposed that the solution can be found in developing a more perfect economic system, and much effort has gone into developing and implementing a number of economic models which go under names such as capitalism, communism, socialism, etc.ARTArticleEducating and Uplifting the Vital Nature: Part 1 Understanding the IssuesWhen we recognize the difficulties of managing the energy of the vital nature, and its long habits of how it finds fulfillment and satisfaction, we can appreciate that there are no ‘simple’ solutions available. The vital, when it is cooperative with the mind and the psychic being, is an incredible power of effectuation; when it sets up obstacles, however, it can pose immense difficulties for the seeker.ARTArticleEducating and Uplifting the Vital Nature: Part 2 Concepts and Principles of ActionGaining the cooperation of the vital nature is an important step in the transformation of our existence, including the upliftment of the physical nature. Once we have begun the process of observation of the vital nature, its habits and its predilections, we can begin to implement various methodologies and techniques to reshape and redirect its energies. In order to do this effectively, however, we must appreciate certain principles and concepts that govern the process, whichever specific techniques we attempt.

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