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ARTArticleHints for the Spiritual Practitioner Seeking to Eliminate the Sex ImpulseWe have learned quite a bit about the sexual impulse. Young children are basically asexual, and it is only with the coming of puberty and the flooding of mood-creating chemicals in the system (hormones), that we become susceptible to responding to the sexual energy when it arises. Not everything is, however, driven by biochemistry. There is a very large component made up of peer pressure, cultural expectations, and societal manipulation of attention and awakening of desire through marketing and advertising that is based on sexual allusions.ARTArticleHostile Forces and Their Impact on Spiritual DevelopmentThere are legends in major traditions about opposing and actively hostile beings who attempt to disrupt the spiritual evolution. Buddha was tempted by Mara. Jesus was tempted by the Devil. The Buddha and Jesus had to overcome the pressures of these beings in order to carry out their evolutionary task. The Puranas have numerous stories of beings that try to dominate the world of humanity and who challenge the gods for supremacy in the three worlds. These beings reside on various planes of existence, but try to influence and control events in the physical world.ARTArticleHow Can I Understand True Spiritual HumilityIn the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna inquires how he can know an enlightened individual, whether by his talk, or the way he acts, or by some other exte
al sign. Sri Krishna replies that it is not through exte
al actions or signs that one can recognise the realised souls. The truth lies in their inner attitude and experience. Similarly, an outward show of spiritual humility, or an outward show of apparent egoism may not reflect the inward reality of the person. One must understand the force behind the outer activity to understand its significance.ARTArticleHow Can One Transform the Vital? Part 1: Observation, Understanding, Action & ResistanceThe Mother provides a clear approach to transforming the vital nature. In part 1 she addresses how to gain perspective, the necessary steps involved and the kind of resistance that arises and what can be done about it.ARTArticleHow the Practitioner Can Identify the Action of Hostile ForcesWhenever the discussion turns to unseen powers and forces, the rational intellect of the mind tends to shut down. That is one reason why there has been an argument, in the West, betwee
Science and Religion.ARTArticleHow to Deal With Anger and Other Strong Vital ReactionsThere is an idea, prevalent in some aspects of Western psychology, both mainstream and ‘pop’ psychology, that it is unhealthy to internalize and hold in strong reactions or emotions such as anger. They counsel letting it out and thereby saving oneself from the psychological and physical effects of suppressed anger and other strong emotions. There are even groups that support the idea of “scream-therapy” as a way to express one’s inner rage.ARTArticleHow to Distinguish The Divine Force from the Habitual Action of the Lower as well as from the Hostile ForcesTrying to change human nature, the basic physical-vital-mental makeup that we accept as the predominant mode of being in the world today, is hard. The actions and reactions of the body, the senses, the vital energy, the organ systems, the emotional system, the hormonal responses, and the mental habits are deeply embedded. When someone tries to change any of these elements, he runs up against walls, obstacles and resistance.ARTArticleHow to Eliminate Desire Without SuppressionHow do we experience desire? For some, it comes as a drive to possess something we experience in the world, whether something seen, heard, felt, etc. In other words, desire begins with something perceptible by our senses. In the past, this was therefore something close at hand. Nowadays, with the advent of the internet, broadcast media, and world-wide travel, we may have desires that do not arise from immediately seizable objects, and thus, require various steps in order to be achieved.ARTArticleHow to Gain an Understanding of the Meaning of Inner PerceptionsAs the seeker begins to enter and experience the inner and higher realms of consciousness, he comes into contact with beings, forces, planes and worlds that transcribe experiences into his awareness, yet do not generally function under the same methods and laws that are operative in the normal mind-life-body complex and the world of Matter which we inhabit.ARTArticleHow to Make Sleep ConsciousMuch research has been done to monitor the various stages of sleep and to try to determine what is taking place during each stage. People have been experimenting with learning during sleep, and some people actively ‘program’ their minds before they go to sleep to solve certain problems they are facing, letting the subconscious work out the solutions. Aspirants frequently report dreams or experiences that occur during sleep that help to guide them or solve issues they are facing. Many find that teachers or gurus come to them and provide instruction or guidance.ARTArticleHow to Overcome FearA number of years ago, a crowd of anti-war protesters in Washington DC were gathered in front of a federal building and were suddenly confronted with a phalanx of heavily armed police wielding guns, batons and potentially tear gas cannisters, arriving with numerous paddy wagons, who surrounded them and began to move in. A vibration of fear went through the people assembled there, as they thought they could be beaten, arrested, or both. Then someone began to chant “OM” and the crowd picked it up.ARTArticleHow to Overcome the Obstructions of the Vital BeingAs has been shown time and again when individuals have attempted to change the vital nature, the attempt is doomed to only partial success, if not ultimate failure, if the struggle is carried out under the conditions of the vital being. Almost any method, process, technique, control mechanism or exertion of will-power can be turned by the vital nature into something that nevertheless fulfills its desires and aggrandises its sense of self and importance.ARTArticleHow to Quiet the MindIt is a virtually universal experience. One sits for meditation, trying to quiet the mind, and the thoughts keep surging and seem to have more intensity than before! Every sensation seems to provoke some activity in the mind, pent up issues or conce
s take that time to come to the fore, emotions arise, thoughts abound. One gets the feeling that there is no peace coming in the meditation.ARTArticleHow to Recognise the Manifestation of the Divine Presence in the Human IndividualHow do we recognise the Divine manifesting through an individual human being? Arjuna poses a similar question in the Bhagavad Gita, when he asks how to recognise the enlightened man. How does he walk, how does he dress, what does he eat, how does he act? Sri Krishna reminds Arjuna that the realised soul cannot be recognised by outer forms, but only by the inner spiritual consciousness at work in the individual. The needs of the outer world change and the individual must act according to those needs.ARTArticleHow to Sleep WellOne of the most frequent conce
s raised by people generally is their inability to get a good night’s sleep. Insomnia, as well as restless sleep, seems to be a widespread concern. Among practitioners of yoga, the conce
goes even farther, in that they desire to convert sleep into a luminous, rather than a dull or dark period of life, particularly given the fact that we tend to spend 30% or more of our lives asleep or attempting to sleep.ARTArticleHow to Tread the Sunlit Path of YogaThere are no exemptions from the issues, obstacles and difficulties that attend the work of bringing forth a new evolutionary principle and thereby impacting, changing and vastly reorganizing the existing status quo of the mind-life-body complex in the world. The issues must be addressed. The individual, however, may deal with these issues differently, based on how embedded he is in the existing ego-personality versus his ability to separate himself and shift his standpoint towards the divine standpoint.ARTArticleIdentifying and Overcoming the Resistance of the Tamasic and Rajasic EgosThe action of the three Gunas pervades and permeates all action including our response to obstacles, setbacks and conce
s that arise during the practice of Yoga. When Tamas is predominant it sends out thoughts and ideas of weakness, failure and limitation. When Rajas is in the ascendent it sends out thoughts and ideas of domination, control and pride. Both of these create ‘affirmations’ that impact the body-life-mind complex and colour the response we have to the obstacles and difficulties we face.ARTArticleIllness and ImmunityThe human being is composed of a number of different forces working along their own lines and attempting to find some kind of harmonious interaction between the parts of the being. There is the physical body, the vital being, the mental being, the psychic being and the spiritual planes beyond that. Many times, the vital or the mental adopts a mode of action without taking into account the needs, and limitations, of the physical body. This is true for spiritual seekers as well as those living the life of the world.ARTArticleImmortality in this Body is Not the Transformation Sought by the Integral YogaThe “fountain of youth”, the elixir of immortality, attaining ete
al life… these are various ways the aspiration of humanity has found expression for the conquest of death. Some who take up the integral Yoga latch on to the eventual idea of the supramental transformation leading to immortality and believe that they will become immortal in this body in this life. Sri Aurobindo, however, has made it very clear that this does not represent his view of the matter.ARTArticleImpatienceWhile at its root impatience has as a primary source the frustration associated with either lack of ability to fulfill a desire, or a delayed gratification of that desire, in the modern world, these root causes are accentuated and provoked through acculturation and the systemic operation of the modern world. Prior to the industrial revolution, and still in certain parts of the world that are predominantly based in rural or subsistence hunter-gatherer existence, life moves at a slower pace and the rhythms of Nature prevail.ARTArticleIndulgence of Vital Desire Is Not a Solution — Neither is Suppression of the VitalThe Mother illustrates the difficulty of transforming the vital nature. None of this is either fast or easy, given the complexity of human nature and, in particular, the vital being. There are also deeply entrenched habits of action and reaction and a general force of vital nature that lives in the collective environment, and thus, can always impact the individual, even if he happens to have made substantial progress within his own psychological identity.ARTArticleIntegral Yoga: Sri Aurobindo’s Teaching and Method of Practice — Summary and ConclusionsSri Aurobindo took up yoga, not for individual salvation or to abandon the life of the world, but to aid in transforming life, for action in the world.ARTArticleIntellectual Understanding and Understanding in the ConsciousnessThose who find their basis primarily in the mind tend to believe that their intellectual understanding of something represents something real and definitive and that their “knowing” means they “know” something. This is however, not quite accurate. For instance, one can read books and “know” about a particular activity or process but nevertheless be unable to fully comprehend all the subtlety or complexity that only becomes clear through experience and inner review. There is also the famous statement that reading about swimming does not mean one can swim when one enters the water.ARTArticleIntroduction to Living Within: the Yoga Approach to Psychological Health and Growth by Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, compiled by Dr. A.S. DalalWhat is psychological health and growth? Western psychology tends to define psychological health as the absence of various forms of extreme disturbance or disruption. ‘Normal” levels of dissatisfaction, upset-ness, are considered to be both acceptable and part of everyday life. It is only when someone experiences a psychological state that drifts into total disorientation, violence, suicidal thoughts, or disassociation from the expectations of society that psychology labels the behavior as unhealthy or harmful.ARTArticleIntroduction to the Subconscient Level of ConsciousnessWestern psychology has invested a considerable amount of time and energy in trying to understand, describe and treat the subconscious levels of our existence. Freud described various complexes that arose from the subconscious and which drove the being into actions that the conscious parts neither understood nor desired. Pavlov showed that deep training could link events in the subconscious to create automatic responses to stimuli.ARTArticleIs Inner Spiritual Growth Possible While Engaging with the Exte
al World?If we look at the spiritual and religious traditions of the world, we find that a recurring theme is the need of the true seeker to disassociate himself from the outer life of the world. This is done to focus the attention on the spiritual quest and to avoid the distractions, disruptions and time and energy required to deal with the demands of the exte
al life. In many cases, this is done through simplification of the life in the setting of a monastery, cloister, ashram or spiritual community.ARTArticleIssues in Understanding the Mechanism of Sleep and DreamsWe spend a large percentage of our lives in the realm of sleep, and the dreams that accompany the sleep state. We have very little actual knowledge of what takes place during our period of sleep, although scientists do extensive studies on the electrical activity in the brain during sleep and the different phases or stages of sleep.ARTArticleJudging OthersThe surface being, under the influence of the vital ego, loves to criticize others and ‘gossip’ about them. This is a method of ‘puffing up’ or inflating the ego by dragging down others. It also wastes considerable time and energy by focusing on what are for the most part superficial things in a superficial way.ARTArticleKnow your planet - Uranus AstrologyUranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It's not obvious to the unaided eye and turned into the principal planet found with the utilization of a telescope. Uranus is spilled on its side with a hub slant of 98 degrees. It is regularly portrayed as "moving around the Sun on its side."
Realities about Uranus
Uranus was formally found by Sir William Herschel in 1781.ARTArticleLiberation Should Precede the Attainment of the Cosmic ConsciousnessThe ego-personality actually can be a form of protection for the unprepared soul in the world, as it limits the range and power of action. If a person breaks out of the framework provided by the small ego-personality, and comes into contact with and active conscious interaction with the larger universal, cosmic forces, this can result in an enlarged form of egotism and lead to devastating results due to the self-aggrandisement that can occur, combined with the greater powers at play at that level.