Posts

Connection and Attachment … A careful approach in the journey of Self-Development

With an observant view of close associates, in personal and professional life journey, on the way each one of us lives our lives, and our response pattern to external stimuli and situation, I came to the realization that most of us begin with connecting and then develop a tendency to get “attached”, in case connection in a relationship is sustained over a period of time for a specific cause. Attachment often leads to stress and strained relationships as it binds emotionally. In Human relationships, connection gets converted into attachment at subtle physical or vital level when one of the objects gets converted into subject due to affinity / preferences we develop when connection follows a pattern of repetition. This realisation worked very well with me to have a more objective view of relationships for improved mind body balance. On introspection, it looks that our relationships are akin to an object and subject connected with an energy flowing between the two. As electrical energy fl
Post a Comment
Read more

Silence and Surrender, the Facets of Practising Integral Yoga – my Mother’s personal experience

This is a fascinating life example of following the principles of silence and surrender in real life. My late mother, Ph.D. in Philosophy, completely leading a family life, cheerful in life, but pursuing integral yoga in spirit. Daily she used to start her day uttering Sri Aurobindo’s mantra “ Om Anandamayi Chaitanyamayi Satyamayi Parame ” 1 and waking me up with the mantra as a blessing. Through her routine household works and activities, her mind used to be at the feet of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo. In a day, she used to devote at least a few minutes in reading their works. She adored silence and always stayed away from high pitched voice, noisy music, quarrels, etc. Though she visited Puducherry and the Ashram only once in her lifetime when I was a child but practiced their principles in life . S he was associated with Kolkata Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir since her college days, where she also had darshan of Champaklal ji, the close disciple of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.   Being
5 comments
Read more

Applied Spirituality and Mediation: Overcoming Challenges of Sustainability Using Inter-Relational Settlement Model

Note: The following is the abstract for a larger text. Mediation is defined as a process, whether referred and agreed to by the expression mediation, pre-litigation mediation, online mediation, community mediation, conciliation or any other expression of such similar import, whereby party or parties, request an independent third person referred to as mediator or mediation service provider to assist them in their attempt to reach a peaceful settlement of a dispute. The peaceful settlement of any dispute to be initiated, processed, guided and moderated in the process of successful mediation before parties, needs mediator to have four major new skills such as witness-awareness, stillness-concentration, empathy-motivation and a pragmatic-sensibility for fulfilling the aims and outcomes of mediation. These four skills are deeply inward and psychological, which can be accessed and empowered by an exercise of deepening experience called spiritual in content and application. However, a crucial
Post a Comment
Read more

The Leap of Faith

The leap of faith is a movement of consciousness that sees through appearances, that overwhelm or threaten, to the occult hands of love that are weaving these appearances. When those hands are seen, the fabric woven by them becomes a tenuous phantom. ‘The leap of faith’ is about landing firmly in the knowing that no person or personal will is the source of the perceived ill-will or threat. That the impersonal whole is constantly precipitating into the appearance of a person to fulfill, through the agency of the perceived ill-will, its eternal unchanging supreme goodwill! The term “ Sararambh Parityag ” (sacrifice all initiations), from the Gita, is to arrest the initiation of reaction to the appearance, to seize from locking horns with circumstances which are destined to be. Yet it is not a stoical resigned ceasefire on life. It is a surrender to a love, glimpsed secretly orchestrating the perception of being attacked only to liberate to set free. - Anahita Sanjana (India)
4 comments
Read more

A Fresh Look at PFT Syndrome in Life Journey

PFT (Perception, Feeling and Thought) are main drivers of our response to external stimuli / situations while relating in the objective world. Perceptions relate at sensory level of surface consciousness whereas Feelings and Thoughts are related to subconscious level by way of memories and impressions we carry during our life experiences. As I treaded on my life journey from childhood to adulthood and then towards senior citizenship, I could notice changes in my responses / reactions based on impact of PFT. It so happened that Perceptions played a major role earlier… there had been a period when I was quick to react and carry pent-up emotions causing stress and strain at physical and mental level. This also was partly due to the lifestyle I had in early 30s till mid 40s when my routine was to get up late in the morning, diet comprising of spicy food and egocentric life with attachment to role and positional power. My limited connect with spiritual organizations, namely Sri Aurobindo as
Post a Comment
Read more

Rules of Collective Living: Cultivating Harmony Within and Without

“Harmony is my aim and all that leads to harmony makes me happy.” 1 Understanding Harmony Harmony is often understood through its synonyms: agreement, accord, concord, synchronization, congruence, coordination, and coherence. While these words capture facets of harmony, they may not fully encompass its essence. Harmony is not merely a mental or intellectual exercise but also an experiential and embodied state. It involves a holistic integration of all aspects of our being, aligning our inner selves with our outer actions and the larger universe.   “Harmony and beauty of the mind and soul, harmony and beauty of the thoughts and feelings, harmony and beauty in every outward act and movement, harmony and beauty of the life and surroundings, this is the demand of Mahalakshmi…. Where love and beauty are not or are reluctant to be born, she does not come.” 2   Integral harmony, as highlighted by The Mother , 3   encompasses: Harmony between things Harmony between people Harmony of c
3 comments
Read more

Law and Applied Spirituality

The following is the Abstract for the longer write-up Click here for the Full Write-up Legal systems govern social behaviour. They attempt to regulate order, collective peace and harmonious developments in society. The external social behaviour that law deals with is also a part of internal human behaviour. This external and internal nature of human behaviour, needs to be consciously studied and interlinked when legal systems desire elements of justice, equality, liberty, fraternity, dignity, integrity and unity for social collectivity. These elements, that legal systems guarantee, come from an integration of individual and collective life on matters of social, political, economic etc., of various levels.  The individuality and collectivity on these matters and levels are deeply psychological and spirited in sense as human behaviour operates through stimulus from inside to leave external effects outside or vice-versa through a function of thought-emotion-sensation-body complex. Thus, w
1 comment
Read more