Monthly Archives: June 2010

Explaining the Ascent-Descent in Integral Yoga

Posted on June 25, 2010 by

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother Mirra Alfassa frequently spoke of ascents and descents which occur during meditation. Ramana Maharshi, when informed of these statements, firmly denied any such occurrences. Such puzzling contradictions can occur due to different vocabularies used by various sages as well as due to the varied transformations by which they attain self-realization. In this article, I will endeavour to outline the resolution to this contradiction and hopefully clear the confusion. Continue reading →

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The spiritual aptitude (adhikara) needed for Yoga

Posted on June 25, 2010 by

As with every undertaking in life, so also in the practice of Yoga, some aptitude or competency is required. Some people take to meditation like fish to water, while others labor all their life to unveil the light which lies latent within. Aptitude can be developed through right living and right thinking and is carried over into future incarnations, guiding us into contact with saints and Yogis who can lead us to enlightenment. The Guru adapts his teaching based on the aptitude of the disciple since all are not capable of assimilating and realizing the Truth in identical manner. This is also the reason why different kinds of meditation techniques have developed over time. These are some selections on this subject from various sages. Continue reading →

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The brain is not the mind as per Yoga psychology

Posted on June 15, 2010 by

The current scientific consensus equates the mind with the brain and sees consciousness as the outcome of brain activity. In contrast, various sages have asserted (based on their experience of self-realization) that the mind is distinct from and greater than the brain. It is only after one is established in mental silence that one begins to catch a glimpse into the truth behind these assertions. Continue reading →

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Distinguishing between stilling the mind and dynamizing meditation

Posted on June 11, 2010 by

Generally, people don’t have a dynamic meditation. When they enter into meditation or at least what they call meditation ― they enter into a kind of immobility where nothing stirs, and they come out of it exactly as they went in, without any change either in their being or in their consciousness. And the more motionless it is, the happier they are. They could meditate in this way for eternities, it would never change anything either in the universe or in themselves. That is why Sri Aurobindo speaks of a dynamic meditation which is exactly the very opposite. It is a transforming meditation. Continue reading →

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Hermeneutics: how to read holy scriptures

Posted on June 10, 2010 by

When men come across a book of true knowledge, each finds himself there, and at every new reading he discovers things that he did not see in it at first; it opens to him each time a new field of knowledge that had till then escaped him in it. But that is because it reaches layers of knowledge that were waiting for expression in the subconscious in him; the expression has now been given by somebody else and much better than he could himself have done it. But, once expressed, he immediately recognises it and feels that it is the truth. The knowledge that seems to come to you from outside is only an occasion for bringing out the knowledge that is within you Continue reading →

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The age of economic barbarism

Posted on June 10, 2010 by

The progress of Science has virtually obliterated the religious mentality of the Middle Ages, replacing it with the skeptical, objective and scientific temperament which devotes it’s energies to earthly pursuits. In this process, it has brought about a capitalist world where money is the primary driver. Today, a nation’s worth is decided by it’s GDP, international relations pivot on trade partnerships and opening of new markets, the earth is valued for it’s natural resources, and the World Economic Forum has become a prestigious annual event. All these changes shape our thinking in ways we seldom realize; they produce what Sri Aurobindo called an “economic barbarism”. Continue reading →

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