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How to Know God

The Taittiriya Upanishad speaks of the unified field of the conscious universe: “The Spirit who is here in a man and the Spirit who is there in the Sun, it is one Spirit and there is no other.”1 Many people believe that God is separate and distinct, someone living up in the clouds, so to speak, who directs, creates and manages our existence. They look upon God as some kind of king who imposes and disposes according to His whim. These people look upon themselves as separate beings who rely on God, who nevertheless have free will and can therefore act against the will of God, and who will be penalized by God if they do so. They never consider that they are actually unified in consciousness with God, and the realization of that unity of consciousness does not come to them. There are also many who have a different view and experience and who recognise that God, omnipresent, omnipotent, all-knowing, having infinite extension and infinite consciousness, must necessarily encompass all space, ...
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Faith and Surrender: The Way of the Wise Traveller

What are the chances of a seed surviving and blooming into a flower when pitted against the formidable opponents to its bloom; toxic chemicals, soil pollution, soil erosion and all the other environmental hazards? Perhaps very few….and yet bloom it does! “His laughter of beauty breaks out in green trees, His moments of beauty triumph in a flower, The blue sea’s chant, the rivulet’s wandering voice, Are murmurs falling from the Eternal’s harp.” - 'Savitri' by Sri Aurobindo I remember a fabric painting class I had once attended wherein a similar truth was brought home to me. I had decided to paint a pink heart on a pale yellow T shirt. In my acolyte enthusiasm I wet the fabric with too much water and God’s disposal of my proposal to  paint a heart took the form of a maroon pink blotch that looked like nothing on earth! My teacher, Bhavna, came to the rescue by etching the outline of a peepal leaf around the red blotch. The blotch fitted into the outline so perfectly that it seeme...
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Food, Place and Friends … Important drivers in Life Journey of a Seeker

Three elements which have major influence in formation of habits and life style during the course of our life journey are our choice of Food, Place and Friends … this message from one of the spiritual leaders struck me deeply and became an area of reflection over the past few years. I vividly remember elders in our family were very particular about   Food   we used to eat. Emphasis was to have sattvik food with larger intake of fruits and nutrition and strict vegetarian diet. A ritual to offer food to God as an offering (Bhog) to get positive vibrations is to make “Prasad”. A mantra is recited to invoke the subtle presence of the chosen deity or Guru with a belief that offered food becomes prasad. It was also a ritual to mix all the cooked items offered to God in a larger quantity which was prepared for all family members. I noticed this kind of ritual in the canteen of Sri Aurobindo Ashram and other places of spiritual importance in all parts of India.   Visiting differe...
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Aspiration

Search for the Divine Began with mesmerizing Nature . . . Trees full of flowers and fruit, Vast blue sky speckled  With flying carefree birds; The sun playing hide and seek  Behind fleecy darkening clouds Portending rain, thunder, lightning  Then comes the nocturnal moon  In the deep inky star-spangled expanse. The azure dome  Becomes the horizon  Screening the cobalt ocean,  The frothy waves. With the discovery of Yoga Beyond pranayam, asanas A meditative mode emerges Sadhana that is enabling . . . Guiding, propelling Towards the Divine. Rishi Sri Aurobindo exhorts : Divine gives the fruits By the measure  Of the soul, Its aspirations. Transformation within, Certain To ensure Divinity closer. -  Mira Ramchand Daryanani (India)
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Healing Sickness With Spiritual Force

An individual reported an experience which, at the time, was unique to him. He was suddenly attacked by a virulent disease and collapsed on the floor. He was carried off to another room in the facility where various individuals tried to figure out what happened to him and what to do about it. After he revived, he reported that he had been outside his body, up at ceiling level, looking down on it lying on the floor with the individuals around him trying to revive him. As a new experience, and without any formal training, he did not know how to direct the force to cure the attack of illness, but he was able to consciously observe the entire proceeding. After being revived, he wound up bed-ridden for some time with a serious case of amoebic dysentery, brought on by the weakening of his vital envelope through a case of sunstroke he experienced just a few days earlier during a visit to Auroville, back before it was forested and shaded. It was only later, much later, that he was able to lear...
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The Soft Velvet of Her Palm

The gaze is trapped in a tunnel vision, Flitting haplessly from “This is good”, to “That is bad”,  Till the realm of “Seamless Good” beckons from the Beyond, Inviting the being to release its tiring oscillation from  “I like this” to “I dislike that”, And rest in the knowing that  She alone does all, controls all, salvages all, And that subsuming the subsets of like and dislike  Is the superset of Her omnipresent love. Then comes the much-awaited leap of faith, That lands me in the soft velvet of Her palm. Eons of fatigue release into repose As I sink eternally into its softness, Consenting to be carried by it forever! This soft velvet cushions all existence as well, And every thorn is justified by the rose-to-come. - Anahita Sanjana (India)
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Conscious Evolution to Spiritual Revolution … Journey of a Spiritual Seeker

Recently I attended a webinar on “Progress in Integral Yoga” and one of the sessions was on “Conscious Evolution to Spiritual Revolution” as one of the aspects to ascertain one’s progress as a practitioner of Sri Aurobindo’s Integral Yoga. One of the important messages by Sri Aurobindo on Integral Yoga is “All Life is Yoga” and this was a popular message during Sri Aurobindo’s birth centenary year in 1972 and has been a popular key phrase. During my experience as a seeker for the past few years, I have found this resonating with my experiential journey reflecting on changes observed in my physical, vital and mental levels – in my daily actions, behaviors, response to external stimuli and choices made.  All of us are on an evolutionary journey but responses of most of us are driven by past impressions, perceptions driven by subliminal consciousness; and evolution is not conscious but rather in an autonomous mode unconsciously like a paper boat on river driven by turbulence and waves...
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