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Why should we think positive in life? Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan says, “Positive line is on the side of God and negative line is on the side of devil-evil.” The One whose mind has become permanently positive is Himself God. The Self (Soul) is towards positive and intellect is towards negative. ... Views: 1
Wind is a metaphor for the vital force. The vital being is moved by desire. When we covet or desire something, we are tossed about as by a great gust of wind. This is the normal state for most people, and they just get tossed about from one focus to another trying to achieve what is held before ... Views: 1
We speak of ‘spirituality’ and we have a conception in our minds about what it actually is. We vaguely sense that it encompasses a devotion and focus on something other than our daily external life and relationships. Many people state that they are ‘spiritual, not religious’. We sometimes ... Views: 2
It is one thing to adopt, in one’s mind, the idea that since the Divine is doing the work, we need simply accept the idea and let things take their course. It is an entirely different thing if we actually want to accomplish the transformation needed to bring about a change in human nature based ... Views: 3
Particularly in the West, historically, but more and more a world-wide phenomenon in the modern era, there is a strong bias toward the idea that one needs to be a “self-made man”, implying that it is through individual strength and accomplishment that one can accomplish anything. This bias is ... Views: 3
We frequently overlook the element of time in any inner review of progress toward spiritual fulfillment, surrender to the Divine, or any other aspect of our spiritual path. We want and expect instant results, and thus, when we once take up spiritual practice, we want it to be immediately ... Views: 4
We tend to live under the illusion that we are one being and that what we think or feel represents ‘who we are’. We accept the idea that we are dedicated to a spiritual path, or we accept the sense of devotion that we feel as representing our surrender to the Divine Will. Yet, we have different ... Views: 4
We see in the legends about great yogic practitioners and their struggles to achieve the spiritual results, a variety of approaches. Two major approaches have been categorised as the “baby monkey” and the “baby cat” approach. The differentiation involves the way the individual participates in ... Views: 4
During the 1980’s there were a number of scams carried out by US mail. An individual would receive a letter purporting to come from some high official in another country who had access to a large amount of money and needed a ‘partner’ to help take the funds out of the country and invest them in ... Views: 4
We get prompted inwardly to do somethng. In some cases, we have conflicting impulses or reactions. We wonder how to distinguish the Divine Will from all of the other drives, motives, forces, and options that confront us. Add to this the complications of the vital nature, in i ts attempts to ... Views: 4
As long as we identify ourselves with our external personality, the body-life-mind complex we inhabit and project into the world, we are subject to the responses, reactions and motivations that they express, based on the developments of the entire past evolutionary history of consciousness on ... Views: 5
Some years ago, there was a movie coming out of Hollywood that was based on the premise that someone was ‘cursed’ with having to tell the truth at all times. The premise was developed as a comedy with the idea that rather than using flattering terms or avoiding any harsh statements, the ... Views: 6
It is relatively easy to recognise that we are putting up a false front in our dealings with society. We greet people with a smile while in our minds, we may be having an opposite feeling about the person. We flatter people to get ahead in society, knowing that the flattery is not based on ... Views: 6
Complete sincerity, inwardly and outwardly, is something that does not generally happen overnight. There are too many habits, instncts and trained responses that control the way the external nature responds to expect that the mental, vital and physical elements of the being will not only accept ... Views: 6
For most people, the concept of ‘sincerity’ is connected with how they relate to other people, in an open, natural and honest way, without duplicity or hypocrisy. The idea that sincerity can relate to oneself and one’s inner life is something that spiritual aspirants grapple with. Sincerity is ... Views: 6
When the spiritual seeker begins to recognise all of the difficulties and obstacles in his own external being, and understands the need to reduce and remove these obstacles if there is to be any permanent and major progress, he may begin by struggling with the desires, the movements that arise, ... Views: 6
Restlessness, impatience and disturbance of the vital nature are signs of weakness in the vital, an inability to hold the energy that is available to the vital. A strong vital nature will have the ability to remain calm and hold the energy without spilling it.
For the spiritual seeker, there ... Views: 8
The quality of Rajas, when it predominates in the action of the individual seeking spiritual growth, can have quite disruptive effects. A certain amount of focus and energy is required for any spiritual endeavour, to be sure, but there is a fine line between too little energy and too much. Rajas ... Views: 8
Aspiration is frequently confused with a form of vital desire that ‘wants’ some kind of spiritual development, experience or result. Aspiration, however, originates in the psychic being, while desire stems from the vital being. The characteristics of the two are therefore dramatically different ... Views: 10
The three Gunas of Nature control the actions and reactions of the external nature and the response to the dualities that present themselves in Nature. As long as we remain fixated at the level of the surface personality, we remain subject to this action of the Gunas.
The question then ... Views: 9
The vital nature, in particular, is addicted to ‘drama’. It seeks attention and excitement. An added complication is that in modern society, with our fixation on all types of electronic stimulation, internet, mobile phones, radio, television, cinema, along with neon signs, blaring ads and ... Views: 9
At some point in life everyone is confronted with physical conditions which cause pain. What is pain exactly? When we speak about physical pain in particular, we reference particular sensations or impulses of an intensity that activates the nerves to carry the sensation to the brain, which ... Views: 11
Many people believe that there is some kind of inexorable law of reward and punishment being doled out by God or some other all-powerful, all-observant being. In the West children are taught this lesson through the myth of Santa Claus, when they are encouraged to be “good” because Santa Claus is ... Views: 9
Whenever anything happens in the world, the senses capture the vibrations and send them up the nervous channels to the brain where they are they interpreted and responded to. When the nervous system is sensitive and overly responsive it may vibrate continuously and not let up. This creates an ... Views: 12
We generally remain locked within the framework of our past training and experience. We create walls around ourselves that circumscribe what we believe we can accomplish, what we can do, what is ‘real’ and what is possible. As long as we remain primarily fixated on the past, we limit our ... Views: 13
An illness is a vibrational pattern that impacts the body and its normal operations. If one does not succeed in rejecting it before it breaks through the protective vital sheath and then, if one fails to prevent it from taking hold at all in the physical body, one is left with having to deal ... Views: 13
The first time we experience something it starts to create a “groove” in our neural network, nerves or responsive centers. As the experience recurs, the groove becomes a ‘pathway’. Eventually, the pathway becomes an embedded habit. When a similar vibration is experienced, it ‘automatically’ ... Views: 12
The physical body has an ingrained response, for most people, to vibrations that precipitate illnesses. The vector carrying that vibration (whether one calls it ‘germs’, ‘bacteria’, ‘virus’, or ‘suggestion’) strikes the protective vital envelope, or aura, surrounding the body. If it finds an ... Views: 13
The 3 Gunas, qualities of Nature, are active in all beings, including those who are undertaking an active process of spiritual development. The physical being is very much subject to the action of Tamas, generally, because of its dense and somewhat inert material characteristics. It thus may ... Views: 14
In the external life we are trained to desire visible signs of forward movement, progress, constant development. We believe if we are not moving forward, then we must be retrogressing. We value action over quiet times. When we are relieved from action, such as during a vacation, or at the stage ... Views: 14
Modern civilization puts a premium on the mental process. We educate our children with a focus on the mind. We want them to learn verbal skills, reading skills, logical skills and measure them on their abilities in these areas with various forms of standardized tests by which we then classify ... Views: 15
It is interesting that people are willing to believe the ‘secret’ of the law of attraction, spend time, energy and money trying to learn it, for the purpose of manifesting wealth, enjoyment and the powers available in the world, but they do not tend to apply the principle behind this ‘law of ... Views: 15
There was a young man who happened to be living at the same place during the 1970’s, who got into his head the idea that the Divine was watching out for him so he could not come to any harm. He walked out into traffic on a busy road and with cars honking and braking, he survived without a ... Views: 13
We spend most of our lives fixated on the external life we are living, including our internal reactions to that life, such as our feelings, desires, sense impressions, thoughts, ideas, motivations and physical comforts and discomforts (among other things). We focus on earning our livelihood, ... Views: 14
Many people express the idea that simply living life without any form of planning or care about organizing one’s activities is the ideal ‘worry-free’ way of living. This conflates reasonable planning in the outer life with the internal process of worrying.
Worrying is basically an inability ... Views: 13
In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna asked Sri Krishna to place him between the two armies ready to engage in a civil war, with massive numbers of troops on each side, so that he could view the scene before the actual fighting started. At that moment he was struck by the magnitude of what was about to ... Views: 14
People have an inner ‘commentary’ and ‘sound track’ going on virtually constantly in their heads. The ‘sound track’ may be a piece of music they heard which keeps repeating in their minds, what is colloquially called an ‘ear worm’. It may also be something of far less enjoyment such as a ... Views: 13
Taking the right attitude when feelings of failure or depression arise in the course of the spiritual practice is essential to navigate through these moods with the least disruption. Sri Aurobindo implies that the standpoint should be in the separate witness consciousness, which he distinguishes ... Views: 16
It is perhaps a virtually universal experience. An individual takes up a spiritual practice, and for a time, particularly when Sattwa is in the forefront, he has unique insights, experiences and a sense of progress. At some point, however, these experiences tend to recede and the individual is ... Views: 12
We are all subject to the action of the three Gunas or qualties of Nature. They are always shifting. As they shift, our outlook, mood, physical responsiveness, vital energy and mental framework all undergo corresponding changes. None of the three Gunas remains constantly in the forefront, so ... Views: 12
The flame of aspiration is the force that keeps the sadhak moving forward in his spiritual practice, regardless of the forces that threaten or oppose that progress, whether from outside or which rise up internally. Everyone goes through changes of mood and energy as the three Gunas fluctuate. ... Views: 11
People believe generally that taking up the spiritual life involves a form of escapism from the daily obstacles, difficulties and pressures of living an active life in society. Some people in fact take up the spiritual path as an escape, but that is neither the primary motivation nor does it ... Views: 11
Forces that operate in the world are not necessarily ‘hostile’ even if their effect on any particular individual appears to be extremely negative. These forces operate on a large scale to carry out their own role and fulfillment, without specific regard to who may be impacted. When an earthquake ... Views: 12
Forces at work in the world try to effectuate themselves and perpetuate their action. They seek for receptive vessels to manifest and carry out their line of action. As these waves of energy, these vibrations move out into the world, they naturally come across elements and beings that are not ... Views: 14
Most people are skeptical about the concept of conscious universal forces. Even if they profess a belief in God, angels, demons, and other unseen powerful beings, they tend to reject the idea when it comes down to actual influence in their own actions, reactions and responses. There is an ... Views: 13
When an individual takes up the spiritual quest, he tends to accept certain principles of action which, by definition, contradict the values, principles and life-actions of his past experience. In many cases this causes a considerable amount of doubt and concern as he tries to overlay his ... Views: 18
Those who identify with their mental being tend to believe that if they think in a certain way, that they have succeeded in embodying that. They will take the thought for the accomplishment without necessarily recognising that their physical actions, their vital energies and even aspects of ... Views: 15
The mind provides a filter to manage and control the vital forces to a certain degree. While it is not perfect, without it, an individual can become subject to whatever vital energy is active and rising up within him. At the same time, the mind acts as a limitation on the ability of the ... Views: 20
All consciousness, all energy, all material substance is essential one, although it takes different forms in the external surface consciousness. Vibrational patterns move across the universal creation and forms respond to them if they are able to vibrate within the range of the vibrations. Human ... Views: 17
Most people simply “live” their lives and carry out whatever feeling, mood or impetus may be impacting them at the moment. They “become” that movement, whether it is happiness and joy, hunger, anger, ennui, fatigue, or some concentrated state of mind, etc. Their awareness, their conscious ... Views: 17