Posts

I am with You

I happened to listen to a talk on the topic  “ I am with You ”  – a famous Mantra of The Mother, by Dr Alok Pandey of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, on the Samadhi Day of The Mother, 20 th  November, at Sri Aurobindo Sadhana Kendra, Vallabh Vidya Nagar, Gujarat. To be in the constant presence of Mother’s Grace in our daily life is the aim of all Sadhaks who are learners on the path to practice Sri Aurobindo’s integral Yoga.   Reflecting on the experiences during his spiritual journey in the Ashram shared by Alok da, I found resonance with the concept of living in contact with the “ Inner consciousness of Truth ”. Living the social life at surface consciousness level when interacting and responding with our colleagues, there is a tendency to get influenced by external factors in perceptual world and we tend to lose our contact with the Inner consciousness, leading to a lack of peace and harmony.   Exploring the inner realms of consciousness by having a look on the sublimi...

The Child of Eternity

An undeciphered song, playing on its lips, Laughing still through its stumbles and trips, An unspoken name within its heart, Its only weapon from the nebulous start, The golden child buried in the mud, Lay a splendid flower in an unassuming bud, Armed with a name yet it knew not, Seeking a cryptic word, in the earth tangle caught. Sometimes drowning but not quite, Always salvaged by a hidden Mother might, The lashing rains’ ominous drawl,  Stunts its stride into a frightened crawl, The fury of the crashing thunder, Forces the veiled name to go still under, Fear a dark sea, looming at large,  Hungering to consume the golden barge, Until the hidden name is visible made, And the ancient debt by a sweep of grace paid, The Eternal child re-finds its eternity Its home in the boundless depths of infinity, And sees the sacred name scrolled across all, And hears in the lashing rain, its ancient Mother’s call, A light is glimpsed at darkness’ core. The child of Eternity at last can say,...

Different Stages of Sadhana - Aspiration for the Divine

In the mystical process of my search for the Divine within the deep recesses of my soul, I have observed, in various stages of my life, the very same forewarnings of Sri Aurobindo described in ‘Letters on Yoga’ - “Very often the earlier stage of the sadhana is successful, because there is an opening of the mind to first workings of the Force—afterwards the lower vital consciousness and the physical rise up...”1 Curiously enough in the Buddhism that I study, which is a Bodhisattva practice of the Mahayana school of Buddhism, there is an acknowledgement of the almost immediate good fortune enjoyed by a new entrant or novice. Understandably, the path of divinity through systematic evolution of the human species, as enunciated in the Rishi’s philosophy of Integral Yoga, is long, arduous and difficult with many setbacks. Sri Aurobindo emphasizes: “Yoga implies a long and difficult work and one must be ready to accept the necessity of years of preparation and purification and increasing cons...

Is Equality a Passive Acceptance?

Achieving the balance between equality and inert passivity is difficult for the human mind, as we tend to prefer clear 'black and white' choices rather than any kind of nuanced approach. Equality refers to the psychological poise with which one receives all impressions, sensations, circumstances, and forces that act upon the being. This does not imply that one must meekly accept whatever comes as the 'will of the Divine". The equality and ability to maintain calm is a function of the external nature. This allows the seeker to maintain his aspiration and focus toward the Divine. It is the psychic being, in contact with the Divine, that knows 'the thing to be done'. Outer circumstances do not generally favor the transformation process that the psychic being has accepted, and thus, opposition, difficulties, obstructions will frequently arise as the existing forces of the status quo try to maintain their control and ascendancy. It is the very process of the evoluti...

Drawing Closer to the Psychic Being

Drawing closer to the  Psychic Being  is a fundamental aspect of spiritual development, particularly in the Integral Yoga described in the sources, as it serves as the direct link to the Divine within the individual and guides the entire being towards higher truths. 1  & 1 THE PSYCHIC BEING: NATURE AND ROLE The Psychic Being, often referred to as the soul, is described as the inmost soul-being and soul nature. 2  It is a direct portion or a spark of the  Divine Fire , evolving and growing through countless lives in the terrestrial evolution. 3  Its fundamental nature is pure, luminous, and inherently connected to truth and divinity. 4 Its primary function is to  support and guide the evolution of the individual . 5  It gathers the essence of all experiences across lifetimes, progressively forming and perfecting its personality. 6  Located deep within the inner or secret heart, behind the emotional being, it is often described as the ...