Monthly Archives: April 2011

When does the soul enter the body?

Posted on April 27, 2011 by

An Indian spiritual Guru, who shall remain unnamed, was recently asked the question by someone in an American audience: “When does the soul choose a body? After conception, is it ok to abort a foetus if we already have children and do not want an accidental pregnancy?“. While Sri Aurobindo and the Mother Mirra Alfassa did not specifically comment on abortion, they did offer a few relevant remarks on time of conception and contraception, which we present here. Continue reading →

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Practising Titiksha with marshmallows

Posted on April 25, 2011 by

Pop psychology, especially in Western culture, believes that repressed emotions can lead to psychological disorders and consequently, free expression and fulfillment of pleasures is encouraged. The marshmallow experiment conducted on children in the 1970s as well as recent studies suggest otherwise; it advances the notion that children who are able to withstand temptation and demonstrate self-control evolve into more mature human beings. Continue reading →

Posted in children | Tagged , , , , , , | 25 Comments

Rising above ennui or boredom

Posted on April 22, 2011 by

Boredom is a dullness of the consciousness; and if you seek the cure within yourself, you will see that it immediately dissolves. Most people, when they feel bored, instead of making an effort to rise one step higher in their consciousness, come down one step lower; they come down even lower than they were before and do stupid things, they make themselves vulgar in the hope of amusing themselves. That is why men intoxicate themselves, spoil their health, deaden their brains. If they had risen instead of falling, they would have made use of this opportunity to progress. Continue reading →

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Significance of places of worship, relics and prayer rooms

Posted on April 16, 2011 by

One must strive to understand the psychological purpose behind every action in the spiritual path, otherwise it degenerates into a mere mechanical act followed out of fear, habit or superstition. With that in mind, here we explore the role that can be played by places of worship, relics, shrines, and prayer rooms in the spiritual path.
Continue reading →

Posted in Spiritual practice | Tagged , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Identifying the signs of spiritual progress

Posted on April 7, 2011 by

How often does one come across the complaint, “There is no progress in my sadhana(practice)”. People are dispirited, aggrieved that in spite of all their strenuous efforts, regular prayers, meditations, selfless work, they are very much where they were. Why is there no progress, they ask plaintively. How do you know that there is no progress, would be the natural counter question. Progress, especially in spiritual life, is not a matter to be measured in external terms, something like the muscles of the body-builder. Continue reading →

Posted in Spiritual practice | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

On collective prayer and meditation

Posted on April 3, 2011 by

These are a couple of talks by the Mother Mirra Alfassa on the potency of collective meditation. Continue reading →

Posted in Spiritual practice | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment