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The normal mental process begins relatively simply. We hear something and accept it in our minds, and eventually we repeat the thought to others and thus, a thought-form moves through the mental atmosphere and touches many minds. Teilhard de Chardin referred to the mental force permeating the ... Views: 340
The mind is the characteristic power exercised by the human race. While the higher reasoning and abstract mind is somewhat limited in its action across the broad spectrum of human individuals, the basic mental powers are widespread, providing the capability to review, categorize and classify, ... Views: 340
The individual drops of water that make up the ocean do not determine the movement or action of the ocean. They are carried along and partake of the larger forces that act upon and through the ocean. The are a small pinpoint ‘nexus’ of the ocean action but not the motive or driving ... Views: 340
Contagion is the transmission of something, whether physical, vital or mental energy/vibration, from one entity or being to another. On the physical plane, contagion is usually understood to be transmitted through the use of a physical medium, such as a ‘germ’, whether we call it a bacteria, or ... Views: 339
Sri Aurobindo has indicated that the evolution of consciousness is carried out by the gradual and mostly unconscious action of the divine intention within Nature. At the stage of the human being, however, it becomes possible for the individual to “speed up” the slow action of Nature through ... Views: 339
Beings of the vital worlds in many cases interact with and act upon the material world in which we live and act as embodied beings. What is the attraction? Vital beings generally crave energy, excitement, novelty, the ‘food’ of their existence. If they are seeking to harvest such energy from ... Views: 339
As long as we live within a certain frame of understanding, we cannot truly understand who or what we are, or why we do what we do, as we are bound by the limitations of that frame. Thus, as we are born in a particular culture, or a particular society, or a particular religious persuasion, or ... Views: 339
When we reflect on the individuation process for which the ego-consciousness is the instrument of Nature, we oftentimes go to the extreme of believing that we are totally separate, independent and free of outside influence. We believe that our individuality is a wall of separation that keeps us ... Views: 338
The gross physical forms result from the subtler levels that are either the immediate, effective means, or the causal level that has formulated the result. If we look at the construction of a bridge, or a building, we see that first there is an idea that develops. The idea turns into a ... Views: 338
An incident was observed and reported by several people which illustrates how mental formations can create entities on the vital plane which become visible to those who have eyes to see. The incident occurred in 1981 in California. An individual had come to the West and took the role of a guru ... Views: 338
When we look at the immensity of the evolutionary crisis, and the failure of “tried and true” solutions that have been put forward through history, it is easy to become discouraged and pessimistic about the possibility of survival. The solution proposed, a radical transformation of human life ... Views: 338
Our educational systems focus on training of the body, the life-force and the mind, essentially fixating the individual on the life in the external world and his role in that world. He is trained on social expectations and customs, and the use of the tools of mind, life and body in the pursuit ... Views: 338
As long as we remain rooted in the external surface consciousness and ego-personality, we are firmly bound by the determinism of Nature. Nature, whether on the physical, vital or mental level, operates under its own ‘laws’ of action. The more dense the expression of consciousness is, the more ... Views: 338
Most of us are wedded to the sense that enjoyment of life and richness of experience are inseparably linked to the play of the dualities. We believe and find our satisfaction in the mixture of darkness and light, joy and pain, beauty and ugliness, and the challenges attendant on meeting and ... Views: 338
Individuals become famous as great philanthropists. Some pledge their wealth to a great cause, such as solving the climate crisis, others undertake to build hospitals or feed large numbers of people. These individuals are looked up to and used as examples of selfless individuals. Yet, a deeper ... Views: 338
How do we determine whether there is any such thing as a ‘yoga-force’? Some treat it as a form of self-delusion, some as hypnotic suggestion, some as some form of ‘placebo effect’ of the mind, some as simply the action of other forces that we simply define as ‘yoga-force’ without any objective ... Views: 337
The Vedic Rishis described a change in conscious awareness as representing satyam, rtam, brihat, the truth, the right, the vast. It is difficult for most people living in the modern world to gain a conception of the vastness of existence. We may know intellectually that the universe is large, we ... Views: 337
How does imagination work? Why do some people seem to have a large amount of active imagination and others very little?
All kinds of formations are active in the vital and the mental domains. For those who have the receptivity and the aware connection to either of these realms, there is an ... Views: 337
We live in a world filled with contradictions, a world of dualities. We accept the premise that we cannot have light without dark, pleasure without pain, joy without sorrow. This appears to be the nature of the world, and it seems like an irrefutable concept. Yet, we can in fact conceive of the ... Views: 337
We 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: 337
The raw power generated by an electricity power plant is far greater than any single house can sustain. Thus, the utility company utilizes step-down transformers to systematically bring the power down to a level that the homes and the wiring to the homes can sustain.
A similar principle is at ... Views: 337
As the seeker becomes more and more conscious he may experience reflections of his past actions which, in retrospect, were incorrect, inaccurate or false. This frequently brings feelings of regret and soul-searching. This is however an over-reaction to an increasing sense of awareness. It is ... Views: 337
Recently the question arose about how and in what form the witness consciousness survives death. This is not a question for either philosophical reasoning or religious dogma. Regardless of the opinion that these general approaches put forth, it is between the individual soul, as a unique ... Views: 336
“The integral yoga, which involves a deep understanding of the normal psychology of the human being, as well as the impact of the descent of the higher spiritual force to manifest the Divine Will in the manifestation, has to develop its own terminology and specific definitions so as to ensure ... Views: 335
An individual is living out his life, following his career, pursuing education, enjoying himself, raising a family, pursuing a hobby. All quite normal things. For most people, this is the frame within which his life carries on, and he experiences the joys and sorrows, the pains and the ... Views: 335
The individual is not an island unto himself; he is part of a series of larger groupings, such as family, clubs, teams, tribes, school classes, corporate entities, community, states and nations, religion, etc. The collective energetic expression of each of these groupings develops a way of life ... Views: 335
We can identify the direction of the evolutionary development of the universe towards the expression of free will, despite the fact that at our current state we can recognise that there is apparently very little free will operative in our actions. In the physical world, Matter operates under ... Views: 335
When the seeker first becomes aware of the practice of separating the witness consciousness from the active external nature, he may naturally take his stance in the mental awareness and begin to observe his actions and reactions from the mental standpoint. This generally yields some kind of ... Views: 335
Human interactions, human relationships have both a surface meaning and a subtle hidden energetic action. One of the most powerful vital energies in human life is sexual relations. By examining how this force operates, both overtly and on the occult levels, we can quickly see the mechanism that ... Views: 334
Most individuals wind up having to abandon their childhood dreams and aspirations. They follow the career path set before them by their society, their family, their teachers and their peers. Yet, in most cases, they never fully lose their deeper aspiration which surfaced in their childhood ... Views: 334
There are many things in the world which we know exist, not because we can directly perceive them, but because we can experience their effects. Thus, we cannot see ‘gravity’ but we know it exists. We cannot see radiation, but again, we know it exists. As we continue to develop powers of the ... Views: 333
We treat free will and determinism as opposite and irreconcilable concepts, and there are adherents ready to argue one position or the other and provide irrefutable proofs of their position. It is clear from the strength of each position that there is a truth that underpins each of these ... Views: 333
We observe everywhere that Nature has a development cycle, with focus of attention on what needs to take place at each stage of that cycle, rather than simply jumping ahead to an 'end result' of the development. Thus, we see that plants undergo a stage of sprouting from seed, and the first focus ... Views: 333
Whatever experience an individual has in life, there come moments when he determines that he needs to exercise his will-power. it may be related to overcoming habits of laziness or procrastination, or overcoming a form of addiction, undertaking a diet to manage his weight, restraining the ... Views: 333
The Taittiriya Upanishad presents a methodology or practice to gain direct knowledge of the Eternal. The seeker is asked to practice tapasya, variously translated as concentration in thought, or concentration of force by Sri Aurobindo. Tapasya cannot be easily or completely understood through ... Views: 332
In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna poses the question of how to identify the spiritual man, the superior individual. Sri Krishna makes it clear that this is not determined by outer signs, but by the inner state of the individual. The Mother takes up this question in a slightly different form and ... Views: 332
The concept of maya is frequently described as the world being an illusion that mystifies our senses and our minds, such that we take it for real, when it is not the truth of existence. We are then asked to cut through the illusion to find the actual reality, the Absolute, the consciousness that ... Views: 332
Scientists nowadays are speaking of infinite numbers of parallel universes, each one carrying out some different ‘choice’ that can be worked out. Not every world is based on the same set of factors and choices as the world we currently inhabit. There are also realms that are not physical in the ... Views: 331
We face, in every sphere of human endeavor, a conflict of competing ideas or directions. If we look closely we can see an element of truth in each side, but can also recognise that as long as we are bound by the mind’s limitations and its desire to reduce everything to “either-or”, we cannot ... Views: 331
The vital nature craves excitement. It also craves recognition and acknowledgement, in the form of vanity, aggrandisement of the ego, and seeking for fame. The vital nature is also quite impatient and wants to see results right away. When the vital nature enters into the spiritual realm, it ... Views: 331
As the evolutionary pressure begins to develop individuals who undergo the spiritual transformation we have been discussing, there is still the issue of how these individuals can impact the wider life of humanity. Isolated individuals surrounded by an untransformed mass of humanity and the ... Views: 330
For the seekers who wish to depart the creation through unification with the Supreme, the body is often considered to be an obstacle, something that needs a certain amount of begrudging attention in order to allow the meditation to take place uninterruptedly. These seekers prefer to give as ... Views: 330
When we see any individual stopping to reflect, choose his line of action and make a specific, conscious determination of how to respond, we consider this action to be unnatural, stilted, and we imply that it is somehow subject to some kind of ulterior motive, and thus, tend to distrust it. ... Views: 330
Once we distinguish the lower forms of spontaneity that stem from the vital nature and its instincts and desires, from the higher form of spontaneity that is linked to unification of the being with the higher spiritual purpose, the question arises as to how the individual can develop this higher ... Views: 329
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Let’s assume there is pitch darkness in your house, such that you cannot see anything ahead of you. What happens to you ... Views: 329
As an individual begins to work with various forces or powers in the world, he gains an insight and understanding of them, and gains the benefit of making use of those powers or forces in various aspects of his life. For example, someone can learn about the anatomy and physiology of the human ... Views: 329
How can we know that the spiritual force is actually working in us? An actual experience of a force or what is called a ‘spiritual experience’ is a specific, generally short-lived ‘event’ that enormous numbers of people have had. Yet, the experience recedes and the daily life goes on, seemingly ... Views: 328
Imagination is a window to the future. People who are stuck in their past, or the present, tend to close themselves off from development. They insist that things have always been done a certain way, and that is how they are going to be done. Change is anathema to them. They have little, if any, ... Views: 328
As 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: 328
When Bram Stoker wrote his classic ‘horror’ tale, Dracula, he popularized and sensationalized an actual phenomenon of vital interchange that operates mostly unnoticed and not as sensationally as his tale implies. To put it in simple terms, ‘vampirism’ is the ability of someone to utilise the ... Views: 328