Monthly Archives: January 2012

How does the brain absorb new ideas?

Posted on January 27, 2012 by

Over the years, the Mother conducted numerous dialogues with students at the Ashram school in which she expatiated on the proper method of studying and diligently developing the mind. What seem like banal exhortations are in reality infused with innate wisdom, as becomes evident when we juxtapose her insights with anecdotes from the lives of scientists such as Richard and Joan Feynman, Stanislav Ulam and Sofia Kovalevskaya. Continue reading →

Posted in children | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Sattwic ego, Rajasic ego and Tamasic ego

Posted on January 21, 2012 by

When people are told “be humble”, they think immediately of “being humble before other men” and that humility is wrong. true humility is humility before the Divine, that is, a precise, exact, living sense that one is nothing, one can do nothing, understand nothing without the Divine, … Continue reading →

Posted in jnana-yoga | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

A mystical incident in the life of Mughal Emperor Akbar

Posted on January 19, 2012 by

Akbar (1542-1605) was the third Mughal Emperor who ruled over much of Northern and Central India. When he was thirty six years old, he had a mystical experience which seems to have been a turning point in his life. Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

How can Sri Aurobindo smoke and drink while practising Yoga?

Posted on January 12, 2012 by

This article is motivated by a recent comment on this blog. Those who have gained some familiarity with Sri Aurobindo are often baffled by his conduct: How could he smoke, eat meat and at times, even drink wine, while practicing Yoga? Doesn’t it violate the central tenets of Yoga? If that didn’t hinder his practice, can I emulate him? The answer is: “No, you shouldn’t emulate him” as we shall see by the end of this article. Continue reading →

Posted in auro | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

My words will remain imprinted on your soul

Posted on January 6, 2012 by

Sri Ramakrishna made my condition such that after hearing him for seven or eight hours and observing him closely, I could remember everything when I returned home at night. I could note down every detail. I could not finish it all in a single day. It would come to my mind gradually. Such was the deep impression he made. Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

2011 in review

Posted on January 2, 2012 by

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog. Continue reading →

Posted in misc | Tagged , , | 1 Comment