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ARTArticleThe Development and Use of Occult Powers and the Spiritual QuestThe lure of occult powers represents one of the temptations to be faced by the spiritual seeker who begins to access the inner and higher realms of consciousness. These powers may be developed through systematic efforts, following the protocols and laws of action under which these powers exist. Alte
atvely, they may develop spontaneously as the spiritual seeking progresses.ARTArticleThe Difference Between Indulgence, Suppression and Rejection of the Movement of DesireYogic practitioners have a number of different methods they have utilized to try to gain control over the movement of vital desire. The disturbances caused by desire, and the distractions that result are clearly inimical to success in the yogic sadhana. Some, like those who practice various forms of the tantric tradition, believe that the ‘hero-yogin’ can conquer desire through conscious indulgence. For most people, however, this becomes an excuse that the vital uses to convince the mind to ‘play along’.ARTArticleThe Difference Between Suppression and Rejection of DesireSuppression of desire can be compared generally to the compression of a spring. The spring increases its latent energy by being compressed and eventually, when it escapes the compression stage, it responds powerfully. When desires are suppressed, they gain in strength and eventually burst forth with tremendous intensity.ARTArticleThe Differences Between Spiritual Realisation and Supramental TransformationThe goal of traditional spiritual paths is mainly to achieve individual liberation or realisation of the Self, although some, such as Mahayana Buddhism, add an element of self-giving in action by having the realised soul, the Bodhisattva, renounce full liberation until such time as all other beings are liberated. This is a recognition of the universal oneness of the entire creation, and is a clear sign of spiritual fulfillment.ARTArticleThe Divine ConsciousnessThe Divine Consciousness encompasses both a vast peace which can fill the being and bring the seeker to a realisation that all the exte
al life details, about which so much worry and fretting take place, are relatively inconsequential in the larger scheme of things. When the peace descends, the seeker may feel separate from the action of the world, including his own individual mind-life-body as part of that exte
al action. This is the experience that the Sankhya defines and which Sri Aurobindo describes as the separation of Purusha and Prakriti.ARTArticleThe Divine Nature of Beauty: an Expression of Ananda in ManifestationWe are predisposed, through cultural habit, to see beauty in an outward form. Those who look a bit deeper warn us that ‘beauty is only skin-deep’, and that outward forms of beauty may hide inward blemishes. The essence of deception is to create the appearance of outward beauty while hiding inward ulterior motivations or even malice. Beauty therefore is more than just the interaction of our response to a perception of the senses, but goes deeper to the radiance of the Spirit that communicates through beauty in the physical world.ARTArticleThe Elements of the Psychic TransformationThe first of the three major transformations of consciousness that Sri Aurobindo describes as required to actually effect the needed change in human nature, is the psychic transformation. With this transformation, the soul comes forward, takes control of the mind, life and body and turns them towards the Divine. There is an opening to the Divine and one becomes aware of the inner ranges of awareness behind the surface personality and its actions. There is a shift from the ego-standpoint to the standpoint of the soul inhabiting the body-life-mind complex.ARTArticleThe Embodiment of the Conscious Divine Exceeds the Ability of the Habitual Mind to Understand and Judge the EventThe Western mind-set, based in analysis and categorization, works to fragment and divide everything into discreet and distinct classifications and categories. Therefore, when it sees any element of Nature, or any being in existence, it wants to treat it as a separate and separated existence. It is a case of “not seeing the forest for the trees”.
The Eastern mind-set recognises the oneness and integrated nature of all that exists, and thus,, while it is able to identify the ‘parts’, it also sees that they are not independent and that they are elements of the ‘whole’.ARTArticleThe Emergence of the Psychic Being, the True SoulEach new evolutionary stage of consciousness takes place within the framework of the previously evolved stages and over a course of time as adaptation of that framework must occur to ‘prepare the ground’ for the new action of consciousness. For example, physical matter, rock, ocean, volcanic action, wind and lightning, etc. are, in their original state, not able to take on and manifest the life energy.ARTArticleThe Emergence of the True Soul and Its Influence on Our LivesWhen they were asked how they develop their most inspired concepts or inventions, noted personalities such as Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla made it clear that it is not through some laborious process of thought, but through an inspiration, a vision, a process of understanding that is outside the normal function of the mind-life-body in its limited functionality. Similar reports come from artists, composers, and visionaries who have been recognised as the leading lights in the development of human progress and culture.ARTArticleThe Essential Role of the Psychic Being in the Process of Vital TransformationTransformation of the vital nature in man is a key and essential part of the transformation that must come with the evolution of the next stage of consciousness. Past yogic paths did not focus to any great degree, if at all, on transformation of the exte
al being and life in the world; rather, it was highly intent on achieving spiritual realisation or liberation, with little emphasis given to the body-life-mind individuality or the mode of living in the world.ARTArticleThe Example of Great Souls Facing the Difficulties and Issues of Human Spiritual DevelopmentPeople tend to assume that great beings such as Buddha or Christ are exempt from the issues that the “rest of us” have to face in the world, and in the practice of spiritual sadhana. They simply assume that these great souls somehow fly above the ground-level obstacles that plague us. In fact, the opposite is quite likely to be true. These great souls, who seek out paths for liberation and human advancement, and evolutionary progress, take on tasks that we many times cannot even imagine, and suffer all the ‘slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’ as Hamlet phrased it!ARTArticleThe Experience and Difficulty of Drawing Inwards in the ConsciousnessUntil an individual has an actual experience of what the Mother calls ‘interiorisation’, there is no real way to understand what it is about. Many people believe that if they sit quietly in meditation, or follow an internal train of thought, that they have an inner experience, but this is not what the Mother actually refers to. These things are still functions of the surface being, the exte
al personality, and can be likened to the earth’s thin layer of topsoil.ARTArticleThe Experience of the Descent of the Higher Consciousness Into the Mind, Life and BodyThe traditional paths of yoga have as a defining experience the rising of the energy from the lower chakras to the higher centres. Western psychology proposes that the creative force, that leads to art, as well as intellectual achievement comes through a process that is called ‘sublimation’ of the sexual energy, which corresponds generally to the traditional yogic experience of the energy of the Muladhara, the seat of the sexual energy, rising up through the higher chakras until it eventually reaches the crown of the head.ARTArticleThe Experience of the New Higher and Wider ConsciousnessThe experience and descent of a higher consciousness is not a matter of philosophical argument but one of psycho-physical effects seen and noted by the individual, as well as palpable impacts in the basis of knowledge, action and implementation in the outer world. The seeker actually can feel the force entering and permeating his being. He can experience the widening of his awareness from a place above the mind. He begins to see and understand things from a new viewpoint which provides in some cases radically new insights and ways of doing things.ARTArticleThe Exte
al Being’s Need For SleepThere are several different orders of activity that take place during sleep. Confusion about these separate things leads to mistaken attempts to simply limit sleep in order to ‘become conscious during sleep’. First, there is the activity that takes place with the exte
al, surface being consisting of body, life and mind. While the surface awareness recedes, the body has a chance to reconstitute its energy and undertake various healing activities. Sleep is considered to be a great healer of the body.ARTArticleThe Focus on Spiritual Development or Attachment to Family Life: the Choice for the Spiritual AspirantFrom childhood we are acculturated with the idea of family and family life as a primary function and goal of our existence. This becomes a habit in our vital being and in our minds. At some point, through some seminal experience or through a growing inner conviction, certain individuals become aware of a deeper spiritual need and purpose to life, and they begin to take up spiritual practices to try to bring about the realisation and the fulfillment that they perceive.ARTArticleThe Force of Habit and the Physical ConsciousnessFor the physical consciousness, repetition and the building of habit is the centerpiece of harnessing physical, material nature. The “laws of physics” are essentially habits at the level of Matter that function to create an order and system in Nature that maintains the cohesion and operation of the universe. Our minds can envision other universes that operate under different “laws” and of course, as we lack complete knowledge, we recognise that over time our understanding of the “laws” of Nature will deepen and encompass the actual functionality more completely.ARTArticleThe Four Steps of the Supramental TransformationThe full manifestation of the supramental consciousness in the world is the objective of the integral Yoga. This does not mean, however, that such a radical change in earthly life is expected to come about quickly or without any preliminary steps to be taken. In terms of the evolutionary procession of Nature, changes tend to take place gradually, measured in hundreds of thousands if not millions of years.ARTArticleThe Greek Temperament and the Roman Temperament in the Practice of YogaWe observe some individuals who have an obvious connection to the life-energy and who have a sensitivity and responsiveness to life that allows them to experience the fullness of life. We also observe individuals who appear more restrained, self-contained, and less subject to the life around them, who tend to reflect and analyze in order to understand and act. Each of these temperamental types has its own special and unique advantages, and disadvantages, for the yogic practitioner. Neither one represents the only temperament capable of achieving the result of the yogic practice.ARTArticleThe Guru and the Disciple in the Integral YogaIf one looks at traditional paths of yogic practice in India, or similar practices around the world, regardless of the religious or spiritual background, one finds that the relationship betwee
Guru and disciple is of supreme importance and consideration, and there is a specific lineage that develops from Master to Disciple, from generation to generation. Thus, there is always a head of the order or lineage who directs, guides and manages the processes within that line, and from there, individual Guru / disciple relations develop under that framework.ARTArticleThe Guru: the Guide for the Spiritual Practice and RealisationThere is one subject that leads to tremendous confusion on the part of a spiritual seeker, particularly in the modern world where there is such an emphasis on individuality, and mental development and a strong emphasis on independence and self-reliance. That is the topic of the “guru”.ARTArticleThe Human Dilemma: the Underlying Cause of AnxietyBeing human is uncomfortable. We do not have the innocence of living that we find in the animal kingdom. We struggle with the pressure of growing knowledge about ourselves and our world, and an awareness of past, present and future that haunts us all the time. For many, this pressure is so unbearable that they choose to try to obliterate the awareness through various forms of dissipation, self-medication with alcohol or drugs, or through an attempt to regain the animal innocence by living in the present, care-free and oblivious, which, of course, is an illusion.ARTArticleThe Illusion of Constant ActionIt is a malady of modern society that we believe we must stay constantly busy, We do not understand nor appreciate the value of quiet time for contemplation and stepping outside of the whirl of day to day activities to unite our awareness with that of the consciousness which manifests in the universal creation. Everyone is ‘busy’ while very few are actually accomplishing anything of note. Modern society prods us into this buzz of constant motion.ARTArticleThe Importance of the Attitude of Trust for the Yogic PractitionerIn our world today, we tend to doubt everything, question everything, trust in nothing. We recognise how much dissembling takes place, how many illusions are placed before our eyes, and we frequently have the experience that when we trust in someone or something, we tend to later see that we have been misled or manipulated. It is one of the sicknesses pervasive in the modern world, that everything breeds mistrust in us.ARTArticleThe Importance of the Psychic TransformationAs the seeker traverses the unknown realms of the inner being, the various worlds of the physical, vital and mental planes and the spiritual heights and widenesses, he is confronted with many circumstances, events, beings, and actions which he simply does not have any reference point to understand. This can lead to errors, even fatal mistakes. The guidance of an experienced teacher, or guru, can help, yet the ultimate and essential aid is the psychic being coming out in front and taking charge of the direction and focus of the being.ARTArticleThe Inconscient and the Need for Its TransformationWhen we look around at the world today, as well as at the thoughts, feelings and moods of people, both ourselves, and others, we find that Sri Aurobindo has perfectly described the situation. He defines this as the underlying Inconscient ‘bed-rock’ of being. The basic material resistance that is filled with Tamas and is slow to respond and adapt to either the need for change, or the change itself.ARTArticleThe Influence of the Psychic Being on the Body, Life and MindThe action of the psychic being is subtle, more of an influence than a direct action in the lives of most people who are focused on fulfilling the needs and objectives set by their body-life-mind complex of their exte
al being. The influence can be experienced and felt in the way the exte
al being responds to situations and the inner state of awareness. One experiences the psychic being’s influence more directly through an attitude of receptivity and openness to it, along with a sense of gratitude and goodwill that allows the influence to act most effectively.ARTArticleThe Influence of the Psychic Being’s Peace and Calm Can Overcome the Disturbances of Mind, Life and BodyIf we observe how we tend to respond to provocations from outside, things, events or people who impact our lives, either mentally, emotionally, vitally or physically, we see that the first tendency is to internalize the provocation with a pattern of vibration at one or another level of our being. We respond with thoughts, emotions, nervous reactions, or physical symptoms. As long as we live primarily in the exte
al being, we participate in this constant action-reaction pattern and do not find any solution.ARTArticleThe Integral Yoga’s View of Mental HealthMental health in the West is generally understood to be a ‘negative’ state, the absence of various forms of disruptions that affect whether and to what extent an individual can conform or fit into the society and meet its expectations. The integral yoga views mental health in an entirely different sense, with an affirmative definition.