Spiritual Growth Articles

Giving the body the rest and recuperative time it needs, the spiritual aspirant still has to deal with the effects of what is normally a descent into a more tamasic status that can have its impacts on the waking consciousness. If we wake up tired, groggy or cloudy, we have not only not fully recharged the body, but we have put a drag on our waking consciousness. How many people need to resort to coffee or tea first thing in the morning so that the caffeine helps to offset the dullness or grogginess?

Symbolic dreams are common and in many cases, similar thematic elements show up for most people. These dreams attempt to raise up from the subconscious levels some underlying need, concern, fear, or persistent issue that remains unresolved in the exte al life. Sigmund Freud, in his work on The Interpretation of Dreams provided his translation of certain common symbolic elements into their underlying significance for the individual. His work, however, was limited by his very narrow focus on the lower subconscious levels.

Where 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 went, or what happened to us while we were asleep.

When the consciousness moves inward, away from the awareness of the exte al reality, it is frequently interpreted as ‘sleep’ by those who experience it for the first time. The reason they believe it is sleep is due to a lack of communication between that inward state of consciousness and the outward exte al awareness, and the identification with the known conception of ‘sleep’ which, in some ways, mimics the action of samadh, with respect to the absence of conscious attention of the exte al waking ego-personality..

Many paths of spiritual practice disregard the needs of the physical body as being irrelevant, distracting, or obstructive to their spiritual development. This has not always been the case. The ancient Greek culture focused on a ‘sound mind in a sound body’ as an ideal. The ancient Vedic tradition recognised the need for a strong body, strong vital force and strong mind as a foundation for spiritual fulfillment.

If we examine how illness comes upon us, and what effects it has, we can identify multiple different contributing factors that can lead to the physical imbalances that we call illness. Many of the symptoms of illness are the result of the physical body actually resisting the effect of the illness. Is it possible to do away with illness? Is it possible to prevent illness? Is it possible to heal illness?

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Most people are not aware of the vital envelope, sometimes called the ‘aura’, that surrounds their physical body. Those who experience this vital envelope are sensitive on the vital plane. They are frequently ridiculed for speaking about the ‘aura’ which they can feel or even observe in others. Western science decided to find a way to test the long-proclaimed existence of the aura. Tests were developed to capture the electro-magnetic field that surrounds the body. Eventually, a technique called Kirlian photography was devised that could actually photograph this electro-magnetic field.

When an individual takes up a spiritual path, he has to work through the seemingly fine lines of distinction that the various prescriptions and directions for progress along the path appear to carry. For example, ‘equality’ and ‘equanimity’ are counseled as essential characteristics for progress. This leads some individuals, for a time, to take these terms to extremes that were never intended, due to the dogmatic nature of the mental understanding, the desire to have a clear cut, uniform and neatly defined process for the needed progress.

It is a natural human tendency, and it carries over to those who take up spiritual practice. This tendency sees most things through the mental lens and tries to categorize them as black and white, positive and negative, etc., essentially creating a mental framework of exclusion that looks to thoughts, actions and focus without looking at process, timing or the needs of the various elements being addressed, whether they are individual formations of the mental, emotional, vital or physical basis or more general formations of the social framework. Thus, we tend to extremes and become dogmatic.r

The spiritual aspirant practicing the integral yoga devotes his efforts to coming into contact with the Divine Force, being receptive to its influence and action, and bringing it down to transform the action of the mind, life and body. Once this force is completely assimilated into the physical cells of the body, it can do away with the vibratory response we know as illness, according to the intensive work done by the Mother of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, who spent years working on opening the physical substance to the higher force.

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In various places, Sri Aurobindo has noted that yoga is applied psychology. The practitioner of yoga is confronted by all of the instincts, habits, trained responses and reactions of human nature and is asked to address and change these in order to uplift the human being to the next stage of the evolutionary cycle, thereby transforming the understanding, the response and the action of the individual.

A question recently arose about how to become aware of the subtle vital envelope that surrounds the physical body and acts to protect it. One can practice quieting the mind, the emotions, the vital energies and the body and just feeling the sensation of the wider body until it becomes vivid and constant. One can close one’s eyes, sit quietly and have another individual quietly move a hand toward the body, not quite touching it, and sense where it is. one can begin to observe and feel when some pressure is felt such as feeling the beginning of a cold or other physical imbalance.

How Srimad Bhagavatam Guides Daily Spiritual Living In the modern world, people often search for meaning, balance, and inner peace while navigating the pressures of daily life. Many struggle to find guidance that goes beyond temporary solutions and touches the deeper aspects of human existence. Ancient spiritual texts provide insights that address these concerns, and among the most revered of these texts is the ISKCON Srimad Bhagavatam . The Srimad Bhagavatam, also known as t

There is considerable confusion about the nature of the soul. A sizable portion of humanity denies the existence of the soul, while another segment of humanity reduces its ‘value’ below that of material possessions and outward satisfactions. The ego-personality, bound up in the actions and reactions of the mind, life and body, has little time to consider the implications of the soul, its existence, its purpose, its action and its significance for our growth and development.

In his poem Savitri, Sri Aurobindo provides imagery to describe the nature and role of the soul, and the significance of the psychic being hidden deep within, carrying our human experience and human life to its eventual fulfillment. Sri Aurobindo writes: "But since she knows the toil of mind and lifer As a mother feels and shares her children's lives, She puts forth a small portion of herself, A being no bigger than the thumb of manr Into a hidden region of the heartr To face the pang and to forget the bliss, To share the suffering and endure earth's woundsr

What if the life we lead is not our true purpose on earth? What if there is more to our existence than the daily round that we carry out, day after day, year after year, changing only the exte al trappings and specific activities, but falling into a similar groove regardless? How many of us sense, at some point in our lives, that we are missing something that would help us make sense of it all? In his epic poem Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol, Sri Aurobindo explores these questions. Sri Aurobindo writes: “This bodily appearance is not all; The form deceives, the person is a mask;r

Sri Aurobindo’s use of the terms ‘soul’ and ‘psychic’ started out with the common usage of the time, but as his work developed, he determined it was best to create a more precise terminology than was commonly in use. In order to appreciate the nuances involved and follow along with the central sense being communicated, we take a moment to focus on these terms which will appear constantly in our review of the current text.

To answer your question, let’s study the following words of Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan, an Enlightened being, very carefully. He says: “This puzzle has come about on its own, governed by the laws of science. I am telling you that this world is run only by Scientific Circumstantial Evidences. In Gujarati, I call it 'Vyavasthit Shakti'... It is all run by scientific circumstantial evidences. The whole world is run by this energy. These words are not easy to understand, unless

The English language leaves a lot of room for confusion, simply because terminology tends to be imprecise, inexact, or vague. The issue is made even more difficult because, particularly in the West, there is very little understanding of the vast field of consciousness, the various planes and parts of the being, and their interactions with one another. It is compounded by the use of language to join together vastly different things simply because they are not recognised in their true place or significance.

We tend to look at things through the standpoint of the exte al physical being, the body, life and mind with which we identify. From this standpoint we treat the soul as something that we need to search for, if we even acknowledge the existence of the soul, and as something secondary to and therefore less important than the goals we set for ourselves to live and enjoy the exte al life. Few are those individuals who look at things differently and see the soul as the primary controller and driver of our lives, and the exte al activities as secondary and subordinate to the soul’s intention.r

In the Kena Upanishad, the powers of the physical plane, the vital plane and the mental plane all believe they are predominant and can wield their power to achieve whatever they want. These powers are embodied in the form of Agni on the physical plane, Vayu on the vital plane and Indra on the mental plane. The Upanishad confronts these powers with a power they cannot recognise. They try to use their native force against this power, but they all fail. They were able to approach the Ete al, with the mental power coming closest to that realisation.

The soul, the psychic being, is a portion of the Divine that resides deep within. For most people, who are living in the surface consciousness primarily, the existence of the soul is a question mark, if they think about it at all. As we grow and face life’s challenges, however, we may begin to wonder about why we are alive, what we are here to do, and how we came to live within a certain society, certain culture, certain family, under certain circumstances.

How does one distinguish between psychic experience, as defined by Sri Aurobindo, as soul experiences, from the vast array of experiences that occur on the mental or vital planes that have been called ‘psychic’ phenomena? Once one has the clue about the different parts of the being and their characteristic modes of action, it is actually not to difficult to know what the experience is, where it originates from, and what energy it carries.

As with many words in the English language, the word soul has various nuanced meanings as Sri Aurobindo explains. English as a very fluid language can at times be very imprecise in this way. This, however, is just one of the issues Sri Aurobindo takes up here in the citation below.

There is considerable confusion about the concept of rebirth and the development and growth of the psychic being across multiple lifetimes. Popular imagination has it that the same individual personality is reborn, and that under certain circumstances, past lives can be identified and recalled. Then they can find their ‘soul mate’ and re-establish the relationships of the past.

The lack of experience and recognition of the action of the soul makes it difficult for most people to understand the reality of the soul. For this reason, people tend to confuse the true soul with the vital soul of desire, which Sri Aurobindo calls the ‘desire-soul’. This is an expression of the vital being and is seen as passionate, sensuous and desire-filled. The vital connection feltl between two individuals clues us in to how people tend to identify a ‘soul mate’.

A seed contains the entire genetic code from which the exte al form, energetic capacity and mental abilities of a living being develop. It can be seen as the most concentrated form of that being, a form that nevertheless has the capacity, through time, of manifesting a physical form, a vital form, and eventually a mental form. Each of these layers take the shape and carry out the energy and direction of the seed from which they developed.

children can exhibit the presence of the psychic being which may recede as they are socialized into the world and develop the powers of the external being of the mind, life and body.

Karma Yoga article: opens with the "wasted effort" feeling when outcomes disappoint, then breaks down Krishna's teaching to Arjuna — act with full commitment, release attachment to results. Covers what Karma Yoga really means, why Arjuna froze, why inaction isn't real detachment, the farmer analogy for controlling only

Spiritual Presence permeates all of existence. Spiritual being is an evolutionary development.

It is not realistic for "readers" to describe a specific past life of an individual in detail

We are afraid to die because we identify with the limited external being of our body-life-mind complex. When we shift our awareness to the Eternal, the consciousness held by the psychic being, we are no longer afraid as we recognise that our existence preceded our current lifetime and continues in future lifetimes.

sincerity in the ordinary sense is different than sincerity in the spiritual growth of the individual.

when we base our viewpoint in the external being and the ego personality, we are always reactive and imbalanced. When we shift to the soul standpoint, we gain balance and poise in our responses to life situations

The psychic being has specific qualities and characteristics. When they begin to express themselves through an individual, it means the psychic being has taken a more active role in the guidance and management of the life of that individual

In each incarnation, the psychic being manifests another latent aspect of the divine reality into an objective formation

When a psychic being is mature and awake, conscious, it can, and does, have the choice to determine the nature of its next birth. The Mother describes how this takes place.

the psychic world has its own unique characteristics which can influence the physical, vital, mental existence we lead in the world by infusing its focus on the Divine into our lives

The action of the subtle energy centres, the chakras, and the seat of the psychic being in the heart chakra

the higher Reason of the mental element of our nature should not be discarded but utilized during the shift of standpoint to the psychic being

The soul-realization is prepared secretly and manifests when the being is ready to receive it through a natural process of development

the psychic presence is infused even in the material consciousness, eventually to manifest overtly as consciousness evolves from Matter through Life, Mind and beyond. Certain vital worlds are worlds of disorder and do not contain the psychic presence.

The psychic being is the direct link between the human being and the eternal Truth. It is possible for other beings to contact the eternal Truth within the static nature of their existence.

The external being relies on memory which tends to encapsulate events into a linear mental framework, while the psychic being has a sense of major waypoints in its development and growth and its periods of coming forward in the life.

education has been subjected to the rigorous framework imposed by the mind, mechanising human life and suppressing the natural relationship of the soul and our deeper purpose in life from our external lives.

The soul remembers the essence of its spiritual development from past lifetimes, not the specifics of the external life it led in any particular lifetime.

The psychic being has a particular type of memory needs and capacities which determines what is brought forward from one lifetime to the next and how

Death, Rebirth and the Role of the Soul in Determining the Process