SAIEN

“Listening (Shravanam) has been mentioned as First step in Nine stages of Bhakti (Path of Devotion) in Indian scriptures for a seeker on Spiritual Journey. This is perhaps true as this is simplest to Practice.”    Perhaps this is the reason why there has been widely practised method of Daily Talks by Spiritual leaders of each religion across the globe. This has been a sustainable way for many decades with a routine for such talks for collective gatherings at fixed time, either in the morning or evening, in homes or religious places. This very well resonates with concept of group listening to an expert or scriptures of leading philosophers and saints.    I recall my earlier days in 1970 as a young boy in Lucknow when I used to join my father in the weekly  Study Circle  being organized at the residence of one the devotees of Sri Aurobindo & The Mother. This was one of the events of Sri Aurobindo Society and picked up pace in Sri Aurobindo’s birth centenary year in 1972. This module

Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow …   Between the conception And the creation Between the emotion And the response Falls the Shadow …   Between the desire And the spasm Between the potency And the existence Between the essence And the descent Falls the Shadow … * The idea is the future, the action is the present, and what is this Shadow? It is that of the Past. For, what is doubt, but a reminder of a negative experience? What is misgiving, but a hesitation arising from a reminiscence? Lack of commitment is only a lack of substance in oneself – substance that has been eaten up by constant denial of one’s own potential.   This is how the past holds me/us… Through memories… memories that generate a negative response to a person or a situation or a future; memories that create fear, distrust and doubt; memories that stop me/us from perceiving the situation as it actually is; that cloud my/our soul(s) from receiving the warmth of another person

Mother the Spirit of Solace, Miraculous presence a grace, Eternal ethereal form as rays, A sanctuary unfolds on human race. Mother Divine so Compassionate, Revered passionately protects soothes As healer groping within, Smiles assures, Life is Beautiful embrace. Sincerity, Truth, Simplicity, Gratitude Opens the heavenly gates on Earth, Mother a Call is enough, but earnestly,  A touch, hope fills deeper, dwells  Glorious Light vibrates holds strongly,  Moments of Joy rejuvenates, Wrapping wrongs with forgiveness, Dissolving the tears of the frail, feeble  Hand holds as sufferings erased, The Mother oversees her children, Our Loving Mother surrounds with The Divine Glow. .. Leaps Beyond,  Beyond horizons, millenniums shall pass,  Eons rotate only through Her Will, With Her Everlasting Love Merciful Maa. We cuddle in The arms for Protection..  We yearn Thy Mercy with True submission we ... At Her Lotus Feet. In Love with Mother Divine, - Nandini Yogeesh (India)

We seem to be drawn to polarities: either this or that. Either Republican or Democrat, either the government can be trusted to effectively organize society or it can't, either pharmaceutical companies are entirely corrupt or they are models of the value of science for collective health and well-being. We have a hard time reconciling two apparently opposing truths. And so it is with our inner, subjective experience and outer, objective reality. The strict, decisive laws of objectivity get fuzzy and murky when we enter the inner space of subjectivity. Modern psychology has made a fairly weak attempt to create a bridge, but too often it just collapses onto drugs and brain chemistry, or the unrealistic ideal of the unbiased therapist. This is even more pronounced when we dig a little deeper beneath the surface of our subjective reality. On the surface we have thoughts and emotions, the mental and vital fields where our consciousness most often plays. But beneath this space is the uncon