SAIEN

The mind is a curious creature --- playful as a child, creator of imaginary fears, doubts, apprehensions. The human mind is prone to saddle one with an unending stream of irrational worries, at the slightest hint of impending crisis or unexpected turn of events in one's life. Such proclivities may snowball into hypertension, bipolar tendencies, depression, all kinds of phobia, paranoia, growing fear psychosis. Sri Aurobindo's path of integral yoga, it has been my experience, helps one to navigate the plethora of problematic situations encountered in life. The path of integral yoga is one where the growing awareness of one's shortcomings drives the inner being towards the higher consciousness. This spiritual practice seeks to integrate all aspects of life—physical, emotional, mental and spiritual—into a unified experience of higher consciousness akin to divinity. According to Sri Aurobindo the terrestrial World is not a mistake nor a vanity or illusion to be cast aside summa...

‘Tis not to you alone that I call by your name. When all of me becomes a Blessed Tongue intoning the Great Name, Overwhelmed by its puissance, Melted down by its beauty, I call to the truth that hides behind its appearance, I call to the light that rescues the darkness, I call to the Eternal Fullness that redeems the perceived lack. ‘Tis not to you alone that I call by your name. I call to that once glimpsed Deep of unfathomable sweetness, I call to the voiceless whispers forever beckoning beyond. I call to the sound of the mysterious flute Wafting through the babel of material voices. ‘Tis not to you alone that I reach out by your name. I reach out to the lost kingdoms of the spirit, I reach out to the loved one lost in the mist of compulsive thinking. - Anahita Sanjana (India)

In an audio talk given by Dr Maheshwari, a well-known seeker in Sri Aurobindo Ashram, gave a simple practice to remain connected with the Mother’s grace on 24X7 basis, and it was  “Remember and Offer ”.  Listening to his talk and contemplation on this simple practice had a good impact and resonance in my spiritual journey as a seeker on the path of Integral Yoga. I had been fortunate to listen to his talks in mid-70s during his visits to Sri Aurobindo Society center in Lucknow as a teenager. It is a reality that each one of us do have a tendency to Remember certain images, peoples whom we come across as given relationships or chosen relationships in our personal, social and professional domains of our life.     Our habitual responses to external stimuli are largely driven by most frequently remembered people who influenced us at emotional and mental levels. Our parents and Spiritual Masters are certainly most revered people whom all of us remember as they are in...

The following was written recently for an uninitiated readership; hence, stating the obvious for a readership well-versed with the Integral Yoga. Still, it has some merit; hence publishing here. Can human nature be changed? Or is it indeed the proverbial dog’s tail that cannot be straightened ever? What we call our nature is comprised of several elements, each quite different from the other, each impacting the other – our habits, behaviour, attitudes, psychological constructs, emotional response patterns, qualities of character – our whole way of being, relating and responding. It is easier to change some parts, others not. We might change the way we behave but retain an inner predilection quite contrary to what we portray. Outer change is easier; it is the inner change that is challenging – seemingly impossible. Outer change can lull us into believing we have changed. Only in the midst of an existential crisis, a situation that threatens our self-interest, how much we have  actual...

For most people, the experience of losing the sense of the ego is unplanned, fleeting and even, unappreciated as it occurs. They simply shift their identification elsewhere without recognising what exactly is taking place with respect to the seat and focus of their conscious awareness. For the spiritual seeker, however, these glimpses provide an insight to the eventual process of loosening the grip of the ego and widening the individual ego-consciousness to join the universal consciousness with all of the liberating effects and powers of knowledge and action that accompany that shift. All of the techniques, whether the focus on a single point of light, or intense concentration in reading, or the identification with some external being as was illustrated with the example of the theatre, or a deep silent identification with a piece of music, or as noted here below, the identification with fish in an aquarium, or indeed, any other techniques that shift the awareness out of the little ego-...