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ARTArticleAlleviating the Greater Part of Human SufferingIn 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 as in the way we, collectively, address our common human needs and relate to the environment within which we live.ARTArticleAn Exercise to Experience the Nature of ConsciousnessThe 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 the Bhriguvalli of the Taittiriya Upanishad.ARTArticleAn Exercise to Overcome the Mental Bias to Facilitate the Ability to “Know Thyself”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 vital influence on the mind creates. Without such a mechanism, we have little hope of effectuating any real and lasting change in human nature.ARTArticleBecoming Aware of Consciousness Independent of the Body, Life and MindWhat is consciousness? How can we understand consciousness separate from what we believe to be ourselves, the body, vital force and mental framework that we identify with? Philosophers, scientists and religious leaders have all tried to develop a definition of “consciousness”. Rene Descartes famously declared ‘I think, therefore I am.’ Subsequent researchers in the field of consciousness have challenged this statement, and spiritual practitioners experience pure awareness without the movement of thought in the mental field.ARTArticleBecoming Conscious of the Psychic Being, the Soul in ManThere are many different spiritual disciplines and methods, and also different experiences of consciousness that result from practice of these methods. For those who aspire to bring the soul, the psychic being, forward and active in the physical body and life, Sri Aurobindo describes several methods.ARTArticleCalming Agitation of the Nerves: An ExerciseMost people get ‘wound up’ occasionally or frequently. This leads to what is called in Ayurveda ‘deranged vata’. Vata is the dosha that represents the air element in the being. The symptoms can include nervous tics, headaches, indigestion, insomnia, and a general feeling of lack of ease or peace. This can be occasioned by worry, anticipation, or nervous exhaustion, overloaded senses, and in today’s modern world, perhaps one of the biggest culprits is interfacing with various electronic devices, such as TV sets, cell phones or tablets, computers, etc.ARTArticleComparison of a Life Guided by the Psychic Being and a Life Under Control of the Exte al Personality of the Mind, Life and BodyThe Mother illustrates clearly the difference in how an individual responds when the psychic being is in front, guiding the mind, life and body, as opposed to what happens when it is in the background, either pushed back, or deeply hidden under the cover of the exte al being, leaving the mind, life and body consciousness, the exte al personality, controlling the actions of the life.ARTArticleComparison of the Highest Ideal of the Ordinary Human Life and the Divine Life of the Spiritual AspirantPeople in modern society are confused about the meaning, purpose, significance and value of their lives. The society sets goals for them that involve for the most part, material satisfactions through acquisition of wealth, family, and enjoyment, without any further insight provided as to why one should be doing these things.ARTArticleDealing with the Subconscient Elements of the BeingAs the individual confronts the various impulses, emotions, drives and thoughts that arise and drive his life and action, he begins to recognise that there are elements that are not easily identified on the surface, and that there is something that cannot quite be grabbed with the intellect, which represents a motive spring for many of the impulses that he contends with.ARTArticleEvolutionary Change and the Process of TimeEvolutionary changes take place in what we may call “evolutionary time”, which measures major changes over millennia, certainly far beyond the span of any individual human lifetime. Thus, when we look at any attempt to modify human nature, not to speak of physical characteristics that are embedded in the DNA, or even the long and deeply embedded habits in our vital nature that are part of the subconscious inheritance we have that frame our way of reacting to circumstances, we cannot expect to see radical change in the course of a few years’ time.ARTArticleHabits, Cravings, Addictions and the SubconscientOne of the big issues that all people face is dealing with cravings, habits and addictions and their effects in their lives. The mechanism at work here is not based on conscious decision-making, but on impulses, feelings and pulls that occur subconsciously, whether in the mind, the vital being, or the body. Certain habits may begin with a mental or vital acceptance, particularly as a result of peer pressure or tradition. Thus, many begin to utilize tobacco or alcohol, or other ‘recreational drugs’ as a result of the pressure from outside.ARTArticleHow to Change One’s NatureAs the awareness develops of the influences that have shaped our character and active nature from our ancestors, our parents, as well as the influences from our peers and from the society at large, we begin to develop a respect for the complexity of the task and the reasons why we cannot simply use our mental conception and will-power to change our own nature. There is too much embedded in the subconscious layers of our being, not to speak of what resides in universal nature, to simply isolate ourselves from all those influences and create ourselves anew out of whole cloth.ARTArticleHow to Transform One’s Nature By Overcoming Mental and Vital BiasOnce we have recognised that we cannot rely on the mental being to truly review, analyse and control the vital desire-soul of the exte al being, and adopted the principle enunciated by the Mother to hold up each thought, feeling, emotion, action and motivation before a ‘screen’ of one’s highest ideals, we have grasped a basic tool for changing human nature. The Mother expounds on this review process and how to apply it. Sincere and consistent application can make a profound difference in the way one responds and acts over time.ARTArticleMedicine, and Beyond, in the Treatment of Bodily IllnessIt is easy, in fact, quite normal, for an individual to turn toward medical treatments once an illness presents itself. The mind-set of the entire society is based on the idea that illness must be defeated and that medicine, through its long history, has increasingly gained powers and tools to defeat illnesses. With the advent of antibiotics, anti-viral medicines, vaccines, Western medicine has shown remarkable ability to address scourges that once ravaged humanity such as smallpox, the Bubonic plague, and polio.ARTArticleMedicine, Immune System Action, Faith Healing and Overcoming IllnessesHow do medicines work? What exactly do they do in the body? How do we explain the effect of placebos, which are involved in a reasonably large percentage of cures? What about cases of spontaneous remission of disease? Is it possible to recover from “antibiotic resistant” bacterial diseases? Can the vital sheath be strengthened to prevent illness from entering the body?ARTArticleObserving the Inherited and Environmental Influences on One’s Character from the Standpoint of the Psychic BeingWhen the individual is able to shift out of the standpoint of the ego-personality to that of the soul, the psychic being, he is able to observe and trace the influences of inherited tendencies or environmental pressures that bubble up from the subconscient and try to gain admittance and acceptance into his active outer nature. The tendencies are as clearly defined as when one sees a physical resemblance between a mother and a daughter or father and son!ARTArticleOccult Experience of Visualization Applied to Contacting the SoulMany people have reported the experience of visualizing, either in deep meditation, or in what may be called a dream state, or a lucid dream state, a house, or building, or even in some cases a cave, and when one enters into that space, there are numerous passages or doors, and if one follows it up, all kinds of information and awareness is revealed. C.G.ARTArticleOrganising One’s Life Around the IdealObservation and reflection eventually can lead to focus of the life and attention to achieve a specific aspiration. The process of reviewing with care in the light of the higher aspiration allows the individual to then choose which things to do, and which things to avoid, sculpting, if you will, the future life and activity. As one undertakes this process, the individual finds that life-circumstances begin to align and take on a coherence and inner organisation around that fixed goal. It is similar to the alignment one finds in gemstone crystals as opposed to ordinary rocks!ARTArticleOur Subconscient InheritanceWe pride ourselves on our independence and self-sufficiency. We believe that we make conscious choices that are ‘our own’ choices. We do not generally recognise that who we are today, and what choices we tend to make, are very much conditioned by and even controlled by influences from the past. The Buddhist concept of ‘dependent origination’ describes this intertwined relationship between the present and the past. There is a built-in genetic inheritance that provides much of the framework for the mind, life and body that we inhabit in our lifetimes, and thereby controls many events.ARTArticleOvercoming Disturbance of the NervesWhen an individual takes up the inner observation process and begins to look carefully at the motives, actions, feelings, emotions and ideas that dominate the being, there is frequently a stage where the witness consciousness becomes ‘self-critical’ and worries about every misstep, every wrong feeling or emotion, and every impulse.ARTArticleOvercoming the Darkness and Depression When the Psychic Being RecedesThe distinction between the state of consciousness with the psychic being active and leading, versus that where it has receded and the ego-personality of the surface being is predominant, provides a very clear method for the seeker to know what is taking place internally. By adopting the standpoint of the witness of the nature, the individual can make this determination.ARTArticleProgramming the Subconscient to Modify HabitsWhile we tend to place a negative connotation on ‘habits’, in fact, habits are an important part of the action of the being, particularly of the physical being. We see times and seasons in Nature that repeat themselves, and we see animal life surviving through patterns and habits that they have developed over time. Human beings have sleep and waking cycles as well as general times for taking food that represent physical habits deeply ingrained in human activity. We can measure changes in the energy cycles and hormone release cycles to identify that these patterns are generally operative.ARTArticleSolving the Existential Crisis of Humanity Through the Evolution of Consciousness with Practical ApplicationsSantosh Krinsky gave this talk to outline both the existential crisis we are facing in the world today, tying together numerous different symptoms into a view of the larger issues we are facing, as well as the causative factors and the direction for solving this crisis through the development of the next phase of the growth of consciousness on the planet, the development of the supramental consciousness, beyond the mental level.ARTArticleSpiritual Realisation Through Concentration in the Heart CentreSri Aurobindo distinguishes between a “mental seeking” and a “living spiritual experience”. While those who are intellectually-minded frequently confuse ‘knowing’ with “KNOWING”, there is actually a clear distinction between the ability to read, hear, memorize and repeat back a teaching, which occurs in the mind. There is a famous proverb that one can read all the books about swimming and ‘know’ how to swim intellectually, but that does not mean one will actually be able to swim when thrown into the water.ARTArticleSuggestion and Illness, Spiritual Force for Healing and the Use of Medical TreatmentWhether consciously or subconsciously, suggestions reach the being from the outside world, in some cases impacting directly on the body, and in others through the mind or the vital being. When these suggestions arrive subconsciously, we only recognise the thought or feeling when it arises within us and we take “ownership” of it as our own. At this point, it is much more difficult to reject it as we have already let it in and made it part of our being!ARTArticleSuggestions Can Cause Illness, or Cure Illness: the Link Between Mind, Emotions and the Physical BodyThere are names for various impacts that the mind has on the health of the physical body. For instance, there is hypochondria, which is noted when an individual accepts a suggestion in the mind that they are suffering from a particular illness. Even if they are not at the time having that particular illness, the very suggestion tends to create an imbalance and can make them very sick and lead to various types of physical symptoms. Fear of illness is another causative factor of actual illness, as it opens up a hole in the protective vital envelope.ARTArticleThe Action and Power of SuggestionSuggestions are not just directed at the mind; nor are they restricted in their impact on just the mind. We are used to the process of people making suggestions to us constantly about what we could, or should, do or how we could, or should, respond to a situation. We weigh these suggestions not solely with mental logic, but with emotional reactions, vital feelings and even, in some cases, physical responses.ARTArticleThe Difficulty in the Process Required to “Know Thyself”The vital nature is so deeply intertwined with the mental nature in the current state of human development, and has such a force of desire that it tries to satisfy, that, for most individuals, it is very hard to take an objective view about the thoughts, feelings, actions, reactions, emotions or even the perceptions that arise. Add to this the vital’s power to convince the mind to support and justify its desires, and we find that the mental capacity is, for the most part, at the service of the vital nature of what Sri Aurobindo calls the “desire soul”.ARTArticleThe First Step In Organising One’s Life Around a Central Will or AspirationThose who have an aspiration for spiritual growth, for the change of human nature within themselves, eventually find that they cannot live haphazardly, at the mercy of whatever forces, impulses, ideas or thoughts happen to be moving within them at any point in time, regardless of the source or the intention behind those movements. The aspiration becomes a will to grow, a will to change, a will to progress, and this involves several steps to ensure that the being is coalescing around the aspiration and not random vital impulses or ideas.ARTArticleThe Healing of the Body With the Divine ForceThe mental consciousness likes to make ‘black and white’ decisions. Thus, it tends to set up oppositions between reliance on the spiritual force for healing, and the use of physical means such as medicines or other medical interventions. When we recognise, however, the complexity of the human instrument, and the variable rate at which the different parts of the being open with receptivity to a higher spiritual force and are able to assimilate it, it becomes clear that taking a dogmatic approach is not productive.

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