Self Improvement Site
On The Internet! Take the Self Improvement Tour
On The Internet! Take the Self Improvement Tour
Articles from santosh krinsky | Selfgrowth.com
- Progressively Becoming Conscious - by Submitted on Nov 20, 2022 from santosh krinskyEveryone believes they are ‘conscious’. Spiritual seekers, especially, having awakened from the purely mechanical, habitual processes of the external life, certainly believe they are conscious. Those who believe in various religious traditions, by virtue of that belief, accept that they are ...
Views: 380 - The Parable of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - by Submitted on Oct 01, 2022 from santosh krinskyRobert Louis Stevenson wrote what is one of the classics in Western literature, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The tale is one of a scientist who experiments with potions, one of which releases the dark side of his being, the suppressed inhibitions and dark urges of murder, lust, ...
Views: 380 - The Strength in Stillness - by Submitted on Feb 10, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe live in a world that prizes action and that continually impinges upon us with various information feeds and input from all directions. Quiet and stillness, the ability to remain calm without agitation or upset, the ability to achieve true peace in the mind, in the vital and nervous being and ...
Views: 380 - Programming the Subconscient to Modify Habits - by Submitted on Aug 26, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhile 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 ...
Views: 379 - The Influence of the Psychic Being on the Body, Life and Mind - by Submitted on Apr 29, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe 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 external being. The influence can be experienced and felt in the way the external ...
Views: 379 - The Influence of the Psychic Being’s Peace and Calm Can Overcome the Disturbances of Mind, Life and Body - by Submitted on May 02, 2022 from santosh krinskyIf 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 ...
Views: 379 - Vital Movements Rising Up During the Practice of the Yoga - by Submitted on Oct 28, 2021 from santosh krinskyEvery individual has all the long-established vital movements embedded deep in the nature. When the force of the yoga begins to open up the various energy centers, particularly the vital centers, these movements are stirred and use the opportunity to capitalize on the new energy and try to ...
Views: 379 - What Is the Purpose? Why Am I Alive? Is There a Meaning to Life? - by Submitted on Dec 09, 2022 from santosh krinskyModern day civilisation suffers from an epidemic of ’emptiness’, a feeling that life has no meaning or purpose. This leads to various coping mechanisms such as dissipation through use of drugs or alcohol, or through consumption of mindless entertainment. For those who do not choose these ...
Views: 379 - Elements Common to the Paths of Inner Growth - by Submitted on Nov 12, 2022 from santosh krinskyIn Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, there are 8 limbs, or steps, systematically presented as the basis for the practice of Yoga. The first two of these, known as yamas and niyamas present preliminary practices to purify and stabilize the being to prepare for the practice of yoga. Many people consider ...
Views: 378 - Purification of the Nature: Negative and Positive Approaches - by Submitted on Feb 04, 2023 from santosh krinskyOrdinarily, when we reflect on addressing impurities in the nature, whether in the mind, the emotions, the vital nature or the physical body, we tend to fixate upon the weakness or limitation we have identified and work to directly control, change or suppress it. This is what may be termed a ...
Views: 378 - The Need to Master the Sex Impulse for the Sadhak of the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Jan 09, 2022 from santosh krinskyReligious and spiritual paths throughout the world have recognised the need to gain control over the sex impulse. Similarly societies have recognised that in many cases the sex impulse can create disruption in the orderly processes of the society. Traditionally, certain mores or rules of conduct ...
Views: 378 - Trapped by the Social and Moral Code, or Beyond Good and Evil? - by Submitted on Jan 23, 2023 from santosh krinskyFriedrich Nietzsche wrote that certain individuals, by virtue of their innate status as superior beings, could not be bound by social rules or morality or ethics. While the implication may be understood to apply to those who have evolved beyond the ‘need’ for such contextual social rules, the ...
Views: 378 - Options and Risks in Widening the Consciousness Using Various Methods - by Submitted on Oct 13, 2022 from santosh krinskyThere are numerous ways to widen one’s consciousness to begin to incorporate the viewpoint and direction of others. Some of these methods are easier than others, in that they utilize a mood or feeling that is evoked from a natural environment, such as the starry sky, the ocean, a wide view from ...
Views: 377 - Separating the Shadow from the Light in One’s Bein - by Submitted on Oct 02, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhen we look around and see the challenges facing us on the planet, our first impulse is generally to try to find some kind of “fix” to the situation. This generally takes the form of suggesting that our current economic or political system or model is defective, deficient or broken, and thus, ...
Views: 377 - Inner Growth Differs from Modern Concepts of Growth of Awareness - by Submitted on Nov 05, 2022 from santosh krinskyWe have seen a phenomenal growth of practices that bring attention to our daily actions. Mindfulness training asks us to attend to each movement, each step, each bite of food, and each thought and emotion. Clearly with the amount of distraction we suffer from as a result of our love affair with ...
Views: 375 - The Case for the Rare Instance of an Ongoing Physical, Vital or Mental Formation Surviving the Death of the Individual - by Submitted on May 07, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe have no difficulty seeing and understanding that an individual can create a legacy in the physical world we inhabit, as we see the evidence everywhere around us in the form of buildings, enterprises, religious movements, mental developments and conceptualization, and artistic creations, not ...
Views: 375 - Understanding and Addressing the Difficulties of Gaining Control of the Ordinary Human Nature and Life, Part 1 - by Submitted on Aug 19, 2022 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo provided advice to an individual who was trying to sort out the direction for his life and how to face the difficulties that confronted him, particularly with respect to certain vital weaknesses to which he was prone. Sri Aurobindo analyzed the condition of this individual in great ...
Views: 375 - The Subconscient Basis of Our Individual Being, Part 4 - by Submitted on Sep 03, 2022 from santosh krinskyAs the individual works to understand the wellsprings of the motives, impulses and forces that rise up through his being in the subconscient and push him into action, a subtler understanding begins to develop. The need to distinguish between the inherited habits and embedded atavistic movements, ...
Views: 374 - Two Steps to Spiritual Experience - by Submitted on Sep 26, 2022 from santosh krinskySpiritual experience takes ‘knowing about’ something to ‘knowing’ it. What we learn from books, what we learn in school, the facts we memorize, the procedures we learn about, are all based in the intellect and while they may open the mind to new things, do not represent actual experience. The ...
Views: 374 - Living Within: Summary and Conclusions - by Submitted on Oct 22, 2022 from santosh krinskyLiving Within: The Yoga Approach to Psychological Health and Growth, compliled by Dr. A.S. Dalal, is an eminently practical handbook for understanding and addressing the complexity of our psychological makeup. Modern-day civilisation creates enormous pressures for individuals, while at the same ...
Views: 373 - Observing the Inherited and Environmental Influences on One’s Character from the Standpoint of the Psychic Being - by Submitted on Aug 29, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhen 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 ...
Views: 373 - Self-Identification with Others — Loosening the Bonds of the Ego-Consciousness - by Submitted on Oct 08, 2022 from santosh krinskyWith focus, over time and with dedicated effort, the power of concentrated attention, samyama, eventually bears fruit and one can escape the boundaries of the ego-consciousness and enter into an identification with others. As this occurs, we understand their motivations and the direction of ...
Views: 373 - Vedic Seers Describe the Sevenfold Ignorance and the Sevenfold Knowledge - by Submitted on Apr 11, 2023 from santosh krinskyAs we take up the next chapter in the Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo cites, in the headnotes, some revealing passages from the Rig Veda and the Upanishads to indicate the 7 types of Ignorance that needs to be overcome, and to point out the 7 forms of Knowledge required to achieve realisation. Before ...
Views: 373 - Escaping the Little Ego-Consciousness Through Concentration on Infinite Space and Eternal Time - by Submitted on Oct 14, 2022 from santosh krinskyWe are usually so busy focusing on the day to day lives we are living that we rarely take the time to reflect on the larger significance of the universal manifestation and what role we, as individuals play in this development. The concept of maya, the cosmic illusion, is based on our ...
Views: 372 - Living in the Consciousness of the Eternal Provides an Answer to Our Hurried and Dissatisfied Existence - by Submitted on Jul 09, 2022 from santosh krinskyThere is a strong human potential movement that counsels ‘mindfulness’ by living in the present, and not worrying about or identifying with the past, and not imaging or creating images about the future in one’s mind. This movement has an underlying truth associated with it, as dwelling on either ...
Views: 372 - The Benefit of Obstacles and Difficulties for the Development of Conscious Awareness - by Submitted on Nov 17, 2022 from santosh krinskyIt is a quality of human nature. When things are going well, we are happy and contented, we tend not to make extraordinary efforts or focus on change. We feel like things are where they should be in our lives, and we move into ‘enjoyment mode’ rather than ‘change mode’. In some cases, we believe ...
Views: 372 - is there a solution to the Israel/Palestine Problem? - by Submitted on Oct 13, 2023 from santosh krinskyis there a solution to the Israel/Palestine Problem? There is so much history and so much hatred built up. Acts of overt terrorism, including attacks on civilian targets, women, children, etc. are not justifable. The Israelis righfully point out that they have a right to defend themselves, ...
Views: 371 - The Gods and the Demons in Our Inner Psychology - by Submitted on Sep 29, 2022 from santosh krinskyWe find in the ancient Indian epic, Ramayana, an interesting sub-plot which changes the very complexion of what appears to be a battle between ‘good’ personified by Rama and his family, and ‘evil’ as personified by Ravana and his kin. As we delve deeper into the tale, we find that Ravana was ...
Views: 371 - Widening the Consciousness: Practical Exercises and Benefits - by Submitted on Oct 10, 2022 from santosh krinskyIf we observe what happens to our inner psychology when we experience physical pain, we will see that we mostly tighten ourselves up, tensing the body, focusing intently on the experience of the bodily pain. By doing so, we actually intensify the pain experience through this focus and it takes ...
Views: 371 - The External Being and the Inner Being - by Submitted on Apr 26, 2023 from santosh krinskyMost people identify closely with their active external personality, and as a result, they consider that to be the extent of their existence. They leave on the surface, interact with others, family, friends, acquaintances, associates and other members of society, and respond to the outer ...
Views: 370 - The Nature and Power of Sincerity in the Practice of Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Dec 15, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhat exactly is the meaning of ‘sincerity’ in the context of the integral yoga, and what makes it so essential to the successful practice of this yoga? For most people, sincerity is a quality defined by adherence to a specific idea or belief and a direct translation of that belief into the ...
Views: 370 - Light and Shadow - by Submitted on Mar 23, 2023 from santosh krinskyYin and Yang, dualities that are inextricably intertwined with one another, that continue to play into one another and which contain an element of the opposite quality within themselves. We live in a world characterized by duality and when we examine closely we find that we cannot have light ...
Views: 369 - All Knowledge Is Within, Awaiting the Time and Circumstance to Manifest in Our External Being - by Submitted on Dec 30, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe ancient Greek philosopher Plato described the method of teaching utilized by Socrates, known today as the “Socratic method”. Socrates understood that education was not the process of stuffing knowledge into an individual, but rather, as the root of the word ‘education’ implies, a drawing out ...
Views: 368 - Spiritual Realisation Goes Beyond All Scriptures - by Submitted on Jan 02, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe live in a dynamic, evolving universe, not one that is static and unchanging. All teachings of the past, therefore, have their limitations. In his Essays on the Gita, Sri Aurobindo reminds us that all scriptures have both a temporal element, specific to their time and their circumstances, and ...
Views: 368 - The Essential Role of the Psychic Being in the Process of Vital Transformation - by Submitted on Jul 28, 2022 from santosh krinskyTransformation 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 external being and life in the world; rather, ...
Views: 368 - The Meaning of True and Complete Sincerity in the Spiritual Path - by Submitted on Dec 24, 2022 from santosh krinskyJust about every individual, including those practicing a spiritual discipline of some sort, creates an image of himself that he then projects out into the world. This image is something of a stylized and idealized version of himself that attempts to present the highest and best of his ...
Views: 368 - Three Primary Paths of Inner Growth and Spiritual Development - by Submitted on Nov 11, 2022 from santosh krinskyEach individual has a unique way of relating to and developing his spiritual aspiration. Those who are more intellectually inclined may find that they naturally incline towards what is known as the yoga of knowledge. Those who have a nature more inclined to devotion and emotional expression may ...
Views: 368 - Attaining Peace in the Being - by Submitted on Oct 21, 2022 from santosh krinskyA central key to attaining peace lies in achieving the poise of non-attachment. Non-attachment is sometimes confused with avoidance of action, or some kind of renunciation. But non-attachment can develop even among those who are active in the world. King Janaka was known as being non-attached ...
Views: 367 - Gaining Mental Understanding Through Quieting and Widening the Mental Consciousness - by Submitted on Oct 11, 2022 from santosh krinskyMany people, over the years, have told me that reading Sri Aurobindo’s writings is difficult due to the complexity and wideness of the concepts he presents. I have heard, or experienced, similar issues reading Kant, Leibnitz, Kierkegaard, Sartre, Joyce and others. For those engaged in technical ...
Views: 367 - The Process of Effectuating Real Change in Human Nature - by Submitted on Sep 18, 2022 from santosh krinskyHonest observation without mental bias is the first step the Mother outlines. This is accomplished by setting up the ideal as a screen or filter against which to compare each action. Those that do not compare entirely favorably represent things that can be identified as subjects for the change ...
Views: 367 - Stages and Forms of Meditation and Contemplation (Dhyana) - by Submitted on Feb 15, 2023 from santosh krinskyThere is considerable confusion about what exactly meditation is. This is compounded by the fact that there are numerous different techniques that are taught as meditation, ranging from practices that are called ‘mindfulness’ to those that include detailed visualisations Sri Aurobindo provides ...
Views: 366 - The Bhagavad Gita and the Path of Karma Yoga - by Submitted on Feb 27, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhen we delve into the yoga of works, the Bhagavad Gita immediately comes to mind as a primary text. The Gita explores the questions of what constitutes a yogic attitude in action and compares it to the normal standpoint about work. The major difference lies in the inner standpoint and attitude ...
Views: 366 - The Concept of Spiritual Purity in the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Jan 21, 2023 from santosh krinskyFor most people, purity is connected with a moral precept, and for most, this has eventually been related to the question of sexual relations. The question of chastity, and withholding of sexual activity until the socially sanctioned relationship of marriage has been put in place, holds a ...
Views: 366 - The Necessity for Quietude of the Vital Nature - by Submitted on Feb 08, 2023 from santosh krinskyThere can be no permanent settlement of peace in the mind if the vital nature has not also attained quiet and peace. Many people take this as a reason to abandon active life and involvement in society and the world-at-large; yet, this is not a solution. The vital nature is very much driven by ...
Views: 366 - Widening the Consciousness Through Identification with Galactic Space - by Submitted on Oct 09, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe principle Patanjali set forth for the practice of samyajma provided that one would be identified with and gain complete knowledge with the object of the practice of concentration. Those who choose to identify with the vast galactic panorama of stars and space would find their consciousness ...
Views: 366 - Aspiration and Prayer - by Submitted on Dec 20, 2022 from santosh krinskyMany people confuse aspiration with prayer. They are however, actually two different things, and while they may support one another when they align, it is not necessary that aspiration lead to prayer. Aspiration refers to the inner state of consciousness that arises from the psychic being in a ...
Views: 364 - Stages of the Development of Peace in the Being - by Submitted on Feb 02, 2023 from santosh krinskyWith all the complexity surrounding the reactions we have to impressions and pressures we receive from the world, it is important to both understand the seed causes of our reactions and find a way to systematically gain control over these reactions. One of the techniques recommended by Sri ...
Views: 363 - The Case for the Rare Instance of an Ongoing Physical, Vital or Mental Formation Surviving the Death of the Individual - by Submitted on May 07, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe have no difficulty seeing and understanding that an individual can create a legacy in the physical world we inhabit, as we see the evidence everywhere around us in the form of buildings, enterprises, religious movements, mental developments and conceptualization, and artistic creations, not ...
Views: 363 - The Light and the Shadow in Each Individual Being - by Submitted on Sep 30, 2022 from santosh krinskyIt is easy to see the failings of others, while overlooking the issues within oneself. Jesus in his famous Sermon on the Mount, recounted in the New Testament of the Bible, exhorted his followers to not judge others but to look within, and noted ‘And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy ...
Views: 363 - The Power of Concentration is the Key to Realization in All Fields of Life - by Submitted on Jan 28, 2023 from santosh krinskyEvery major accomplishment in human life involves some form of concentration. We live in a modern world that systematically distracts and disperses the mind, thus making it more difficult to achieve a state of concentration. Cell phones, internet surfing, music, flashing lights, entertainment, ...
Views: 363