Self Improvement Site
On The Internet! Take the Self Improvement Tour
On The Internet! Take the Self Improvement Tour
Self Knowledge Articles
We are currently looking for an Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to "Self Knowledge". If you have expertise in Self Knowledge and your own website and/or product for this topic, please review this form for complete details. The Official Guide Position is part of our Premium Placement Package
- The Influence of Inner Planes of Consciousness on the Outer Life of the Individual - by Submitted on Nov 08, 2022 from santosh krinskyIn The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo devotes a chapter to the ‘sevenfold ignorance’. While we are fixated on our external mind, life and body and the life we lead in the external world, we remain ignorant of the forces at work, behind the scenes, to create what we call our being and personality, ...
Views: 458 - The Influence of the Awakened Consciousness on the Circumstances of the External Being and Life - by Submitted on Nov 03, 2024 from santosh krinskyHave you ever wondered how some people seem to go through various situations without a problem while others go through similar situations and have to undergo tremendous challenges and suffering? If someone escapes a harrowing incident once, we tend to call it “luck”. But if it happens repeatedly ...
Views: 230 - The Influence of the Circumconscient Environmental Consciousness - by Submitted on Mar 05, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe paradigm that has ruled Western psychology has focused on treating the individual as a discrete entity, separate and apart from everyone else, and independent of his environment. Pressure may be exerted by societal influences, economic influences or family relationships and expectations, but ...
Views: 645 - 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: 496 - 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: 489 - The Influence of the Soul on the External Nature or the Direct Relationship with the Soul in the Deepest Inner Being - by Submitted on Sep 28, 2023 from santosh krinskyIt is common for an individual to take some kind of illumination of the mind, or some strong positive emotion in the heart, for instance, as a sign of their contact with the soul. Yet in many, if not most, cases the contact is with a mental or vital movement tinged with the influence of the ...
Views: 357 - The Influence of Unseen, Unperceived Beings and Forces in Our World - by Submitted on Jun 27, 2024 from santosh krinskyWhen we can once appreciate and accept the fact that forces, unseen by us, unperceived by our senses, can, and do, act upon us, pushing us to act in certain ways, pressing on us to move in certain directions, it is but a small step to recognize that there are beings who inhabit these unseen and ...
Views: 301 - The Influences That Direct the Development of the Vital Nature - by Submitted on Nov 27, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe can understand the role of genetic predispositions in the formation of the physical body. The transmission of physical characteristics from generation to generation, the blending of dominant and recessive genetic traits and the atavistic background that led to the status of the genetic ...
Views: 342 - The Initial Liberation of the Mental Being from Servitude to the Physical Body - by Submitted on Aug 31, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe can learn much from the quite commonly related phenomenon called the ‘out of body’ experience. Many people have had such an experience where they resided in their awareness outside the body, in some cases from above the body and from that vantage point could observe the body as different and ...
Views: 123 - The Initial Psychic Realisation Helps You Go Beyond the Barriers of Your Egoism - by Submitted on Feb 10, 2024 from santosh krinskyWhen the astronauts left the planet and were able to look back at Earth from outside, it radically changed their viewpoint. It represented a visceral shock that forced them to see things in an entirely new way from a new perspective. Analogously, when the shift of standpoint occurs for the ...
Views: 368 - The Inmost Being — the Psychic Being - by Submitted on Jun 11, 2023 from santosh krinskyFor those who live their lives on the surface, focused on fulfillment of their external lives, desires and their ego-personality, there is generally no direct knowledge of the existence of the soul. They may accept the idea of a soul without a clear sense of what that implies or means. Or they ...
Views: 396 - The Inner Being (the Subliminal) - by Submitted on Jun 09, 2023 from santosh krinskyThere are many times when people suddenly get a true ‘sense’ or a ‘feeling’ about something that is not directly perceptible to their senses. Sometimes one will feel that someone is watching or following, although the person cannot be seen or heard. There is some inner sense, with a wider and ...
Views: 415 - The Inner Being Determines the Formations of the Outer Existence - by Submitted on Apr 20, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe tend to work from the outer to the inner consciousness. We treat the external world as more real and dominant to determine our physical body, our vital nature and our mental development. There is of course a certain amount of truth to this view, inasmuch as the outer and the inner are two ...
Views: 142 - The Inner Ideals of Ordinary Human Life and the Divine Life - by Submitted on Feb 01, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe highest ideals of humanity can be looked at from the point of view of human capability or from the view of a divine purpose to the manifestation. The difference in viewpoint leads to different focus and result. From the human viewpoint, we would look at how to improve, perfect and optimize ...
Views: 765 - The Inner Spiritual Light Exists in the Entire Creation and Maintains the Balance of Existence - by Submitted on Jul 28, 2024 from santosh krinskyOur normal human view of things is based in the framing of the mental process which relies on distinguishing differences between one thing and another, between one being and another, between one event and another. This “fragmentation” leads us to focus primarily on the separation we have rather ...
Views: 313 - The Inner Subliminal Self - by Submitted on Sep 16, 2023 from santosh krinskyHaving now referred to the Subliminal Self in our discussion of the creation of dreams, it is necessary to describe this part of our being more thoroughly, and Sri Aurobindo takes up the question. He points out that the subliminal self is not a creation out of the inconscience, but actually it ...
Views: 435 - The Integral Way to the Truth of Existence - by Submitted on Feb 08, 2021 from santosh krinskyIt is not through the power of mind that one achieves knowledge of the truth of existence. The frame within which the mind operates, and the methodology that it utilizes, simply cannot appreciate, nor understand, those aspects of existence which fall outside of its direct scope or which exceed ...
Views: 680 - The Integral Yoga’s View of Mental Health - by Submitted on Apr 30, 2022 from santosh krinskyMental 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 ...
Views: 560 - The Intellect Does Not Have Direct Knowledge - by Submitted on Oct 16, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe mental intellect receives impulses through the senses, organises them, and trues to determine what is true based on that. It then builds hypotheses, theories and ideation around its assortment of perceptions, memory, and experience based on various principles of symbolic logic that it has ...
Views: 640 - The Intense Opposition of Basic Human Nature to Any Attempt to Change or Grow into a New Status and the Need to Persevere - by Submitted on Mar 19, 2023 from santosh krinskyUntil an individual takes up the issue of inner growth and development, whether this is for spiritual progress, mental development, emotional growth, vital discipline or some kind of physical control, he tends to take very little notice of any inner conflict or struggle. He just acts ‘naturally’ ...
Views: 421 - The Interaction of the Individual and Universal Subconscient With the Individual - by Submitted on Aug 18, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe tend to imagine that somehow the mind, the vital energy and the physical body we identify through our ego-complex as ourselves, is separate from those of everyone else. In reality, however, the physical, vital and mental substance is universal in nature and the portion we try to wall off ...
Views: 380 - The Interaction of the Mind and the Body - by Submitted on Jul 14, 2023 from santosh krinskyThe body has its own consciousness and much of its operation takes place without active mental intervention. However, there is also a serious interaction that takes place so that the mental power can influence, guide, train, direct and otherwise gain at least some control over certain aspects of ...
Views: 415 - The Intermediate Zone and Its Dangers - by Submitted on Apr 12, 2023 from santosh krinskyWe see many examples through time of individuals who began a spiritual quest with good intention and who later came to grief as they got caught up in the snares of what Sri Aurobindo calls the ‘intermediate zone’. When we leave behind the safety and security of the external consciousness and its ...
Views: 447 - The Investigation of Extra-Sensory Powers of Perception - by Submitted on Jun 30, 2024 from santosh krinskyAs science begins to recognise the fact that there are ranges of vibration outside of the limited scope that we can normally experience, and that countless reports of perceptions that are inexplicable based on the outermost physical reality that we have heretofore treated as our sole reality, we ...
Views: 291 - The Involution of Consciousness Precedes the Evolution of Consciousness - by Submitted on Apr 30, 2026 from santosh krinskyWe speak about the universal manifestation either as some kind of creation by fiat of an all-powerful God who simply made everything the way it is, and said “It is Good”; or else, as an evolution of life out of matter, and mind out of life in an ascending scale of consciousness and eventually, ...
Views: 10 - The Jiva, the Soul and the Psychic Being — the Interface Between the Divine Standpoint and the Human Standpoint - by Submitted on Mar 29, 2026 from santosh krinskyThe Knowledge plane, which Sri Aurobindo terms the “supramental consciousness” is the level where the unity of the Supreme consciousness is ‘refracted’ to create the apparent multiplicity of the manifested universe. This level holds both the Oneness and the Multiplicity with a consciousness that ...
Views: 33 - The Jivatman and the Psychic Being: the Central Being of Man - by Submitted on Mar 13, 2021 from santosh krinskyIs there a purpose or significance to life and the evolution of consciousness? Who is responsible for this process, and how does it take place within the complexity of a unified whole that has innumerable constituent elements interacting with one another to create the world we live in and the ...
Views: 694 - The Jivatman, the Soul and the Evolutionary Process Through Birth and Death - by Submitted on Sep 19, 2023 from santosh krinskyThe soul makes choices along the way and in so doing, it builds up the psychic being as it grows, evolves and passes through a series of births and deaths of the physical existence. The Jivatman represents the Divine Consciousness presiding over each individual formation within the manifestation ...
Views: 427 - The Journey from Ignorance to Knowledge Through an Attitude of Continuous Learning and Receptivity - by Submitted on Mar 04, 2025 from santosh krinskyWe live in the world without fully appreciating or understanding it. This is not something new that we are experiencing, but a statement of what we may call the ‘human condition’. The Rishis of the Rig Veda faced these same issues. In the Hymn of Creation, Mandala X, Sukta 129, Verses 6 and 7 ...
Views: 174 - The Joy of Action — Independent of Concern for the Fruits of the Action - by Submitted on Sep 10, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe goal of the integral yoga is nothing less than the transformation of human nature, the uplifting of consciousness to the next evolutionary stage in the manifestation and the consequent changes that brings about to create a new harmony and a new balance in the life of the individual and in ...
Views: 106 - The Justification and Benefit of Unifying the Being Around the Psychic Being and the Spiritual Purpose of the Life - by Submitted on Nov 11, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhen we work in the external world, whether it is to study, to follow up a line of development of some sort, to train the body for athletic endeavours, to strengthen and refine the mind to undertake serious development of the powers of Reason and intuition, etc., we do so with some expectation ...
Views: 350 - The Key to a life of fulfillment is to ‘PAY ATTENTION!’ - by Submitted on Apr 26, 2021 from James Mapes“The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way.” -Keanu Reeves, actor My suitcase disappeared on one of my trips recently. It just failed to show up. I stood there in the baggage claim area stupidly watching everybody else’s luggage before I finally admitted it was lost and ...
Views: 707 - The Knowledge Based in the Mystic Heart - by Submitted on Apr 09, 2026 from santosh krinskyMan, the mental being. The mental capacities that are associated with the human species are considered to be our unique trait, distinguishing humanity from the rest of the animal kingdom. We drive this narrative with a focus on training and developing the mind in our schools. We believe that ...
Views: 20 - The Knowledge of the Soul Arises in the Silence of the Mind - by Submitted on Apr 27, 2026 from santosh krinskyThe mind is always active and trying to manage and control everything. We hear a constant stream of thoughts running through the mind. Some of them are focused and directed to a particular aim. Many of them are random thoughts provoked by any sensations or impressions that impact us in some way. ...
Views: 12 - The Lack of Transcription or Bridges of Consciousness Prevents Awareness of the Waking Consciousness of Experiences of Deep Sleep and Other Alternative States of Awareness - by Submitted on Feb 22, 2026 from santosh krinskyWhere does the consciousness go when we are deep asleep? Numerous reports tell us that it can go out to other planes or realms, or down into subconscious levels, or up into superconscious levels. When we awaken from sleep, we generally are unable to describe what we did during sleep or where we ...
Views: 54 - The Ladder of Consciousness Above the Mind - by Submitted on Mar 19, 2021 from santosh krinskyIt is difficult, if not impossible, for the mental awareness to understand experiences of consciousness outside of the mind’s normal ranges of operation. Just as we now recognise that our visual perceptions are framed within a range, and that other beings can actually see things we cannot see, ...
Views: 691 - The Latent Potential of the Soul and the Actual Implementation of the Psychic Being - by Submitted on Apr 20, 2026 from santosh krinskyAn individual walks into a train station without a particular destination in mind. He is confronted with dozens, if not hundreds, of possible destinations. He is surrounded by the latent potential to take a particular direction. Each possible destination holds opportunities and further decision ...
Views: 16 - The Law of Attraction and its Application to Spiritual Sadhana - by Submitted on Jun 08, 2025 from santosh krinskyIt 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: 144 - The Law of Attraction and Spiritual Practice - by Submitted on Mar 11, 2025 from santosh krinskyIn recent years there has been a lot of focus on what is called the ‘law of attraction’. It has been mainly used to act as some kind of a ‘wish-fulfilling action’ that one undertakes by focusing on specific affirmations or visualizing results which then are ‘attracted’ to your focus and create ...
Views: 165 - The Law of the Rebound in the Practice of Occultism - by Submitted on Jun 18, 2024 from santosh krinskyAs with physical laws and laws of physics, laws of nature, there are laws of occultism which operate when there is vital interchange between people on an occult level. Knowledge of these laws is essential both to protect oneself and to ensure that occult powers are not being misused or ...
Views: 333 - 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: 487 - The Light Is Needed to Clear the Subconscient of Undesired Responses - by Submitted on Feb 06, 2026 from santosh krinskyIn the Rig Veda, there is a legend about a cave of the Panis which Sri Aurobindo has explained as a description of how the subconscient captures and holds the higher divine Light and encloses it away in the darkness. The illumined mind and the higher powers of awareness break open this ...
Views: 59 - The Limitations in the Concept of Free Will - by Submitted on Mar 15, 2024 from santosh krinskyWe believe we have free will. We are confronted with choices and make a decision and carry it out and believe that this decision was made freely by the individual we identify as ourself. At the same time, we can recognise the step-wise development which is called ’cause and effect’, or the law ...
Views: 375 - The Limitations of the Intellect in Grasping the Supreme Truth of Existence - by Submitted on Feb 05, 2021 from santosh krinskyNo matter how highly develop and powerful the intellect is, at some point it reaches the limits of its power and acknowledges that all of its activity is limited within a frame that prevents it from knowing anything with certainty. The intellect builds steps of logic based on various assumptions ...
Views: 686 - The Limitations of the Mind and the Senses in Knowing the Hidden Forces of Life - by Submitted on Feb 16, 2024 from santosh krinskyOne of the greatest difficulties we face in trying to understand the operation of hidden or occult forces in life is the limitations on our ability to perceive and to know what is actually taking place. Each aspect of our being has its own way of “knowing”. For our lives in the external world we ...
Views: 315 - The Limitations of the Reasoning Intelligence and the Need to Maintain It During the Spiritual Practice - by Submitted on Aug 05, 2023 from santosh krinskyThe mental knowledge we acquire is mostly a form of ignorance reaching out to try to acquire knowledge. In The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo describes the various forms of knowledge. With one exception, they are set up in the paradigm of subject, object and the process of knowing, and treats the ...
Views: 422 - The Limitations of the Thinking Mind - by Submitted on Oct 14, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe development of the mental consciousness has brought about enormous changes for life on earth, and as the foremost species utilizing the mental consciousness, humanity has taken the mind to limits never before considered as possible. Advances in logic, science, philosophy, psychology, ...
Views: 562 - The Limiting and Diluting Effect of the External Instruments on the Intimations of the Soul - by Submitted on Apr 08, 2024 from santosh krinskyDuring the evolutionary development of the ascending powers of consciousness, the action of the soul is to provide an influence from behind, while the primary attention is fixated on the needed development of the powers of the external being, body, life and mind. This severely limits the direct ...
Views: 318 - The Limits and the Effectivity of Prayer - by Submitted on Nov 11, 2024 from santosh krinskyWhen we reflect on what we mean by prayer, and what expectations we have for it, we can determine both the limits and the uses of prayer in navigating our way through life, and obtaining results aligned with our aspirations. In the USA it is common for people to send “thoughts and prayers” for ...
Views: 241 - The Limits of Mental, Vital and Physical Efforts to Change Human Nature and the Need for a Shift of Consciousness to a New Evolutionary Principle - by Submitted on May 16, 2023 from santosh krinskyIn his epic poem Savitri: a Legend and a Symbol, Sri Aurobindo writes: “Heavy unchanged weighs still the imperfect world; The splendid youth of Time has passed and failed; Heavy and long are the years our labour counts, And still the seals are firm upon man’s soul And weary is the ancient ...
Views: 408