 Growth Online |
 Connecting to Spirit (Spirituality for the Individual) |
Knowledge Base |
by Roy Posner and MSS
In this section of the
Growth Online
Knowledge Base, we
present our original thoughts, as well as links to our
original articles on the
Personal
Growth topic of "Connecting to Spirit." (If you wish,
you can see our
other Personal Growth
categories.) First we speak about the
nature of the spirit is for the individual, and then our
purpose in life relative to the spirit.
Then we discuss the three central spiritual methods of
connecting to Spirit: Consecration, Moving to the Depths,
and Surrender. Consecration is to open
to the Force before engaging in an activity.
Moving to the Depths (or
Concentration) is a movement away from the surface existence
to a deeper existence within. In the deepest depths one
discovers the Personal Evolving Soul.
Surrender is to offer all one's
work, one's life to the Divine Force and Intent. (It occurs
generally after one has connected with the Personal Evolving
Soul.) The recommended approach for the average person is to
begin consecrating every act to enable magnificent results,
and over time move the consciousness into the depths, which
will enable better consecration. When you reach the Evolving
Soul in the depths, then you can begin a life of Surrender
to the Divine.
We then cover many
other topics related
to connecting to the spirit, including aspiration,
faith, oneness, delight of Being, and others.)
THE
NATURE
OF SPIRIT FOR THE INDIVIDUAL
(top)
OUR
PURPOSE:
TO EMBODY SPIRIT
(top)
Click here to see entries
SPIRIT-BASED
EXISTENCE
(top)
Click
here to see
entries
CENTRAL
METHODS OF CONNECTING TO SPIRIT
(top)
Click here to see entries
OPENING TO THE SPIRITUAL
FORCE (CONSECRATION)
Click to see entries
Results that Come from Consecration
Affecting the Collective through Consecration
Consecrating for the Sake of Others
What Enables Success of Consecration
What Prevents Success of Consecration
MOVING TO THE
DEPTHS WITHIN (CONCENTRATION)
(top)
Consecration vs.
Concentration vs. Surrender
(top)
Methods
of Connecting to the Spirit
There are three central spiritual methods of connecting to
the Spirit are Consecration, Moving to the Depths, and Surrender. Consecration
is to open to the Force before engaging in an activity.
Moving to the Depths
(or Concentration) is a movement away from the surface existence to a
deeper life within. In the deepest depths one discovers the Personal Evolving Soul.
Surrender is to offer all one's
work, one's life, one's very being to the Divine Intent and Power. (It occurs generally
after one has connected with the Personal Evolving Soul.)
From Consecration to
Concentration to Surrender
-The recommended
process of spiritual growth is to begin by consecrating
aspects of one's daily life to the spiritual Force. After a
while, it will enable one to forge a deeper consciousness
within (concentration). At some point one may come in
contact with the deepest depths, the evolving soul from
which one can begin to surrender all parts of one's being to
the Divine. Thus, the process is Consecration >
Concentration > Surrender.
-Most individuals can practice consecration. I.e. offering all activities and events to the spiritual Force to enable instantaneous miraculousness (i.e. sudden good fortune; aka "Life Response). Beyond that is to embark on a life of conscious evolution ("Yoga" in Indian parlance), which is generally for a chosen few though anyone can partake in it.
Consecration,
Concentration, Surrender
Consecration is to offer aspects of one's
daily life to the Force to enable perfect outcomes and instances of
sudden good fortune. Concentration is to move within, away from the
surface of life. Surrender is to offer one's life entirely to the Divine
for Its Purpose and Intent.
Consecration, Concentration, Surrender
Through consecration we change life
through the power the Force that we open to. From a deeper poise of
concentration, we can more readily function in the world, perceiving the
flow of life more acutely. From there we can more readily and powerfully
consecrate. The spiritual aspirant will begin living their lives from
this poise. Surrender is to offer our very being to the Divine. It is to
give our lives for its Purpose. It is one of the great points of
conscious evolution towards the Spirit (i.e. Yoga).
Consecration
that is Enhance through Concentration
We can enhance our ability to consecrate, i.e. self-offer activities to
the spiritual Force by moving our orientation inward. That inner
orientation in the depths of our being is concentration. Concentration
makes consecration more frequent and perfect.
Consecration, Concentration, Surrender
The average man, the householder, the worker can certainly take to
consecration, which will bring the conditions of life under control,
evoke good fortune. The individual seeking to join the path of conscious
evolution -- aka 'yoga" in the east -- can shift his orientation
inward so that he is more in touch with the flow of life, and senses
what to do from within. That orientation of his existence from within
also gives him the concentration to consecrate more often; to offer all
events, circumstances, issues, concerns, and problems to the spiritual
Force for their instantaneous improvement. Surrender is to devote one's
entire existence to the Infinite consciousness; to reorient one's self
around the Divine Intent and Will. In that ultimate state of spiritual
aspiration, an inner orientation (concentration) and the consecration of
all acts and circumstances will be his standard method of operations.
Consecration
Moves One to Depths
Consecration Moves One from the Surface to the Depth (MSS)
Consecration or Concentration as the Starting Point
We can start from consecration, which will move us to the depths
(concentration) -- this is particularly the method if we are novice to
the spirit -- or we can be well on our way in consecration, and
therefore consciously move to the depths so that our consecration is
more forceful and frequent.
Stages of the Yoga
Before we get to surrender, constant
consecration needs to take place for those who are dedicated to the
spiritual life. Eventually a path is forged inward to the inner being.
If we are true pioneers of consciousness, then we discover the psychic
being deeper still, i.e. the evolving soul in the deepest depths. When
we have made that awesome connection, we more naturally take to
surrendering our entire being, our very lives to the Divine. Mother did
it. Few others have. It takes a stupendous inner sincerity and
aspiration to live this self-surrendered Divine existence.
I see at least seven stages in the yoga (conscious evolution): constant consecration, forging deeper within, inner silence, descents of intuition of knowledge and light, reaching the evolving soul that is now the Inner Guide, the descent of supramental force into all planes of the being, complete surrender to the Divine, and becoming a Gnostic being (a supramental being of the next species).
Consecration Enables Deeper Concentration
Interestingly, though concentration can be the focus and foundation
and of our consecration efforts, the more we consecrate, the more we
penetrate to the depths. That in turn creates an opening to the psychic
being (the personal evolving soul) in the deepest depths, allowing for
Self-Surrender.
Consecration vs. Surrender
Opening to the spiritual Force is
consecration. Surrendering to the Force is consecrating our very lives
to the Divine. The former enable personal progress, super-normal
experience, and the cooperation of life (instantaneous miraculousness;
life response). The latter also brings spiritual evolution and
transformation to the individual, as well as an opening for a Divine
life on earth.
Relationship between Methods of
Concentration, Consecration, Psychic, Surrender
The greater the concentration, including an all-inclusive
concentration, the more likely we will consecrate. the more we
consecrate, the more we forge an opening into the depths enabling more
and greater concentration. Both enable movement towards the psychic
being, the personal evolving soul. When we touch it, we more readily
surrender our being, our lives to the Divine Purpose and Intent.
From Concentration to
Consecration to Surrender
[For the spiritual aspirant Sri Aurobindo has identified these three
stages of conscious evolution.]
Concentration -- "Concentration is indeed the first condition ... A separate strong fixing of the thought, of the emotions or of the will on a single idea, object, state, inner movement or principle is no doubt a frequent need here also; but this is only a subsidiary helpful process."
Consecration -- "A wide massive opening, a harmonised concentration of the whole being in all its parts and through all its powers upon the One who is the All is the larger action of this Yoga without which it cannot achieve its purpose.
It is, then, in the highest mind of thought and light and will or it is in the inner heart of deepest feeling and emotion that we must first centre our consciousness, --in either of them or, if we are capable, in both together, --and use that as our leverage to lift the nature wholly towards the Divine.... the absolute consecration of the individual to the Divine.
... This concentration of the whole being on the Divine that it seeks and, as its corollary, this constant rejection, throwing out, catharsis, of all that is not the true Truth of the Divine. An entire consecration of all that we are, think, feel and do will be the result of this persistence. This consecration in its turn must culminate [later on] in an integral self-giving to the Highest; for its crown and sign of completion is the whole nature's all-comprehending absolute surrender."
Surrender -- "[In the next stage] there will supervene an increasing purified and vigilant passivity, a more and more luminous divine response to the Divine Force, but not to any other; and there will be as a result the growing inrush of a great and conscious miraculous working from above. In the last period there is no effort at all, no set method, no fixed sadhana; the place of endeavour and tapasya will be taken by a natural, simple, powerful and happy disclosing of the flower of the Divine out of the bud of a purified and perfected terrestrial nature. These are the natural successions of the action of the Yoga."
"These movements [concentration,
consecration, surrender] are indeed not always or absolutely arranged in
a strict succession to each other. The second stage begins in part
before the first is completed; the first continues in part until the
second is perfected; the last divine working can manifest from time to
time as a promise before it is finally settled and normal to the
nature."
"This predominance of a greater diviner leading, not personal to
ourselves, indicates the nature's increasing ripeness for a total
spiritual transformation. It is the unmistakable sign that the
self-consecration has not only been accepted in principle but is
fulfilled in act and power. The Supreme has laid his luminous hand upon
a chosen human vessel of his miraculous Light and Power and Ananda."
(Sri Aurobindo, from The Synthesis of Yoga, chapter "Self
Consecration")
The
Process of Realizing the Guru's Realization and Beyond
A guru is the pioneer who provides a greater comprehension.
We now can have experiences that verify that knowledge,
giving us that same knowledge, possibly even greater than
the guru in that specific domain. Parallel to this
acquisition of the knowledge of life, we are opening to the
higher Power ever increasingly. It occurs through
consecration, but a consecration that is ever-increasingly
one pointed (i.e. all inclusive). As a result, our
concentration deepens and the personality moves away from
the surface and down centered in the depths, culminating in
the Psychic Being, which is the springboard of Surrender.
That in turn is the basis for further spiritual
transformation. Or in R's scheme, a higher seeking and
embracing of and being enraptured and enfolded in Mother.
Here is an example that may illustrate. Karmayogi
developed principles about Life Response ~2001 that were
pioneering. I took up his challenge and began to write a
book on the subject (2003). To do that I asked others to
send me their 100-200 experiences of LR which were helpful.
However, until I experienced these different aspects
personally, it didn't have the power of true understanding.
I was however able to have many of these experiences,
documented the various human behaviors that precipitated it
(~50), gaining a great knowledge in that particular, narrow
domain. In some ways, I surpassed the guru's knowledge (i.e.
of the specific behaviors, not the deepest insights).
Along the way, I increasingly consecrated (opened to
Mother), and documented the variety of ways to do so that
elicited (causal) response of their own. My consecration
efforts are still limited in that it is not yet close to
being all consuming and all-inclusive. When it does, the
pathway to the Inner Being will be forged, including the
possibility of reaching the Psychic. Then True Surrender
begins, which parallel's R's scheme of connecting to Mother
at levels 4-7).
It would entail a sincere, dedicated
commitment to a life of Yoga that has further stages of
spiritual (mostly light and higher knowledge, intuitive,
supramental experience), and supramental transformation of
all planes of the being.
Of course, our choice,
Human choice, -- which in this case can be thought of as
Spiritual Aspiration -- would determine the level one wishes
to rise to in this process.
Also See "All-Inclusive Concentration"
DISCOVERING THE PERSONAL EVOLVING SOUL
The Nature of the Evolving Soul (i.e. the Psychic Being)
Benefits of Connection
to Evolving Soul
Consecration, Concentration, Psychic Being, & Surrender
Surrender, Acts, and Planes of Being
Surrender and Infinite Accomplishment (Simultaneous Time, Instantaneous Miraculousness)
OUR ULTIMATE SPIRITUAL POTENTIAL
Conscious Evolution (Yoga)
(top)
Traditional Indian Yoga Methods, Ideas, Writings
Sri Aurobindo's (Integral, Evolutionary) Yoga
Our Ultimate
Transformation
(top)
Developing
Higher Consciousness
(top)
On Becoming
Universal & Transcendent Beings
(top)
SPIRITUAL QUALITIES, APPROACHES
(top)
(Spiritual) Aspiration
(top)
Grace
(top)
Click Here to See Entries
(Spiritual) Protection
(top)
Grace and
Protection When in Difficulty or Trouble
The grace and protection are always with you. When in any inner or
outer difficulty or trouble do not allow it to oppress you; take refuge
with the Divine Force that protects. If you do that always with faith
and sincerity, you will find something opening in you which will always
remain calm and peaceful in spite of all superficial disturbances. (Sri
Aurobindo)
Protection through
the Force and Taking Practical Precaution
The [Divine Mother's] Force will act and protect in difficult and
dangerous situations. Still one must not be foolish and avoid taking
practical precautions in such occasions. (Paraphrase of MSS)
Benefit, Results that
Come from Flowers
Our devotees know that flowers are powerful in bringing us the desired
results. Especially devotees know of two flowers, 1) protection
(Bougainvillea) and 2) harmony (Coral Vine).
Quarrelsome families become QUIET when harmony flowers are brought in.
It is well known that protection flowers kept with us bring protection
in any impossible condition. To get the full benefit of the flowers we
offer to the Mother, we must resort to securing the full knowledge of
the flowers and the full knowledge of the issue for which we seek
protection or harmony.
Rain responds to the flower
"water"
(Porana). It also responds to Grace (Cotton Rose Hibiscus), as
rain is the material expression of God's Grace. (MSS)
Emotional Protection through Surrender
Surrender to the Divine is the best emotional protection. (The
Mother)
Silence, Peace, Reduced Speech, Silent Will, Taking the Other Person's Point of View, Calm, Equality, Patience, Non-initiating
(top)
Silence, Peace
Reduced Soft Speech
Click here to
see Entries
Silent Will
Taking Another's Point of View
Calm, Equality
Patience
Non-initiation
Harmony, Oneness, Unity
Reconciliation of Problems through Higher Harmony
The Nature of
Time
for the Spiritual Individual
(top)
Simultaneous Time: The Third Dimension of Time
The Nature of Space for
the Spiritual Individual
(top)
Infinite, Infinity,
Practical Concept of Infinity
(top)
Goodness,
Gratitude,
Givingness,
Humility, etc.
(top)
Happiness, Joy,
Delight of Being,
Fullness
(top)
Love
(Normal Human Love, True Human Love, Spiritual/Divine Love)
(top)
Spiritually
Oriented Works
(top)
See Entries by Clicking Here
Values and Spirit; Spiritual Values
(top)
(Click here for entries)
How We Can Bring Being into Becoming
The Divine Reality is an
essence of Being. Our lives in the universe is the form of Becoming.
Spiritual life for the individual is to bring the Being into the
Becoming, the spirit into every nuance of our daily lives.
Follow the Becoming;
Accept All
Everything (in life) is
useful and necessary. We must be in the movement of the eternal
Unfolding and Becoming, accepting all. (Paraphrase of The Mother)
Untitled
Our role is to find spirit
in life; to find the spiritual Being in ourselves (whose origin is the
Divine) in the Becoming, i.e. the activities, actions, circumstances,
events, and acts of life. We evolve and evolve life by discovering the
Being in the Becoming. In that process we discover the Infinite of the
Divine in the finite details of our existence, and the Timelessness of
the Divine in the time-bound moments and periods we experience in life.
Untitled
One ultimate goal of
becoming the evolutionary spiritual being is to overcome the limitations
of the physical consciousness and the subconscious.
Untitled
Opening to the psychic
being, the spiritual soul within can initiate movements of timelessness
in time, the infinite in the finite, and the Being in the Becoming.
Discovering the Mental, Vital, and Physical Aspects of the Personal
Evolving Soul
Who am I? Am I my thoughts, my feelings, my physical sensations? Or am I
my True Self, my personal evolving soul? It is the latter. But how can I
escape from this triple tyranny of what I now perceive myself to be. We
can begin by offering, i.e. consecrating our thoughts to the higher
power, to the Force. Since thoughts are not really ours to begin with
since they enter us from the outside, by offering them, we are not bound
by them, and as a result take a step within, to the mental part of our
personal evolving soul. That becomes one pillar of our new true
foundation. At a later point we can similarly offer our vital feelings,
and then the physical acts we are engaged in, which will open up the
vital and physical aspect of the personal evolving soul. Eventually we
come to fully know ourselves as this True Self; which in essence bring
the spirit into life, the Divine Being into the Becoming of the universe
we live in; unleashing life's infinite potential for us; which
transcends all limitations of space, time, and the finite.
Simultaneous Time
Eternity
When we live in the
psychic we live simultaneous time eternity. This is because the psychic,
as the agent of the soul spark of the Divine, resides outside time in
timelessness (i.e. no time), even as it stands behind our active lives
in the timeless Being of the time-based Becoming of our lives.
Response from Surrender
Surrender
of one's self to the Divine enables the spirit Being to enter the life
Becoming, which enables the infinite potentials of life to rush into the
present as miraculous sudden, abundant, responses from life.
Untitled
Evolution
is the progressive unfolding of the Being into the Becoming, the spirit
emerging in the practical life. (Paraphrase of MSS)
Untitled
Evolution
is the progressive unfolding of the Being into the Becoming, the spirit
emerging in the practical life. (Paraphrase of MSS)
Thoughts On Being, Becoming, Being in the
Becoming in
Creation
Other
Follow
the Becoming; Accept All
Everything (in life) is
useful and necessary. We must be in the movement of the eternal
Unfolding and Becoming, accepting all. (Paraphrase of The Mother)
Untitled
The
spiritual way is to confront our inner limitations before it is done
though Nature's outer confrontation.
Untitled
Spiritually-oriented individuals think less in terms of effects as in
causes; or rather effects in terms of causes.
Untitled
The higher one moves in
consciousness, towards harmony, oneness, and other spiritual attributes,
the less possibility of their opposites occurring; i.e. the dimmer the
shadow.
Untitled
If you are not rooted in
the day in the inner consciousness, you may be lucky and have a good
day, but you are taking a big risk, since more often than not you will
be hammered by the surface.
Untitled
Is it not possible for all
of us to actually live the love of Christ, and the compassion of Buddha,
instead of only worshiping them as deities?
Outgrowing Point of Sensitivity
Every individual has a certain level of value that he ascribes to; a
certain sensitivity where he lives. His human life ends and his
spiritual life begins when he outgrows that limitation. (Paraphrase of
MSS)
The Real Heaven and Hell 2
Perhaps we can say that in the afterlife one takes those negative and
positive propensities, which are deposited in various planes of
consciousness until they are relieved of their limitation, after which
the personal evolving soul can either rest or continue on its journey
through rebirth. Heaven and hell may be distortions of this reality for
purposes which may not be altogether wholesome.]
The Right of Being Wronged
The wrong another does to us appears wrong to our surface being, but is
right to our [true] being. (MSS)
Mind Cannot Know Eternity
"The reason you cannot think about eternity is because the intellect
which is doing the thinking is an instrument of time and nothing else."
(THE DAILY GURU)
Happiness
Happiness is Delight of being (Ananda) experienced at the human level of
the vital. It is less than Delight.
Untitled
"True
teachers rarely give advice on the conduct of external affairs. They see
too deeply for that. Knowing that causes, not effects must be altered,
they try to convey this to seekers. " (The Daily Guru)
Untitled
To help
one's self or another in pain or illness you can send light from the
heart or call down showers of peace from the Force.
A Daily Exercise
One simple
on-going, daily exercise, that is in itself sufficient for personal
growth, is to turn one's hostility and bad-will into good will or even
gratitude; and worry, fear, and pessimism into faith and cheerfulness.
We can all understand these since their negative origins are primal;
i.e. physical.
Yoga of Consecutive Moments
We can try an experiment, where we simply observe our inner status and
consciousness from moment to moment for a certain period of time, then
gather all of the facts, and make the concerted effort towards
improvement. We can do this in continuous cycles --absorb, understand,
take right action -- until we have grown well beyond our current status,
and, if we wish, take it all the way to our own transformation. It can
be the yoga of Consecutive Moments. Who will stand forward and take up
the challenge?
Controlling Flashes of the
Negative Vital
The
spiritual-oriented individual does not give in to a sudden feeling of
anguish, angst, distress, and dismay. He catches himself and let's it go
by. This is the minimum required of us along the spirit path. It is but
one element in the control of the rash, impulsive, impetuous, and
defiant elements of our vital/emotional nature.
Untitled
Fundamentalists go within into their faith of physicality (a paradox),
perhaps indicating that we are being compelled to move even deeper into
the higher rational realms of mind, and to a deeper faith based on our
True Self, in order to discover forces and powers that will enable
higher harmonies to emerge out of the darkness.
To Do in the Ascent, To
Be in the Descent
We discover ever higher ways of doing in life, starting with the body's
instinct, and rising to the mind's wisdom, and the spirit's truth. To
do then is in the
ascent (i.e. from matter to spirit);
whereas to be begins in the Spirit, the Being, and comes down to
our minds and to our bodies in the descent.
True Saintliness and
Wisdom
True
saintliness is to want and realise what the Divine wants for you, and
true wisdom is to unite with Him so that you can clearly know what He
wants of you and for you. (The Mother)
MSS Articles on
Spirituality/Yoga in Life [to be parsed
out]
Felicity and Joy
Mother's Force Can Abridge
Evolution
Karma vs. Luck
Whether Faith can be Created
or Increased
Enjoyment and Ego
Methods by which Strength
Gathers
Goodness
Calling The Mother into Us
Negative Changes into
Positive
The Other Man's Point of View
-- Identifying with Mother
Inner Self-Awareness
The Rationale of the
Irrational
What is a Conscious Act?
I am NOT Born Like That
Moving to a Higher Centre
To Speak Only the Truth
Force
Flowers and Their Messages
Silence
Sincerity
Offering
ADDITIONAL
-
Knowledgebase thoughts on the Emerging Spirituality in Society
-
Knowledgebase thoughts on the Nature of the Spiritual Reality, and Theory of Creation
To Be Categorized
Untitled
Ultimately people have confidence in
themselves, their families, society, not in the Divine. Only
in extreme moments of danger, or deep anguish is their a cry
to the Divine.
Ultimately it must be the foundation of our existence, to
enable the infinite possibilities of life. (Paraphrase of
MSS)
"God and Spirituality are for those who have knocked at
the doors of the Absolute and found entry. To all the rest
of us, Spirit is unknown. We worship the gods another person
has discovered." (MSS)
Changing the World from Within
An individual
can change the course of history from within. You can also
accomplish the same thing by overcoming a corresponding
limited quality in one's self. Perhaps these are the same
thing.
Overcoming Outer Conflict by Altering Corresponding
Limiting Aspects Within Ourselves
Two nations are in
conflict. We would like to see this end or resolve itself in
a higher way. We can enable this possibility by discovering
a corresponding conflict or negative aspect in ourselves,
which astonishingly can overcome the wider problem.
The question then rises; why is this so? It is because we
are not only individual beings who can know our True Selves
and thus enable our True Power over our lives from within
ourselves, but we are also Universal beings, who can impact
the outer world from within.
The universe, the whole of life reflects in a macrocosm,
consisting of society, the earth, and the cosmos; which we
embody as a microcosm within us. Thus at any point we can
change our corresponding nature to affect the Whole.
Potential of Endless Life through Spirit
Man
has prolonged life by his knowledge of physiology and
medicine, but has not achieved an endlessness to life. His
conquest of pain is great, but it is not complete. Also, he
has achieved this mastery over life and pain by the lower
forces of Matter - Medicine - not by a superior force.
One's Spirit Connecting to Society's Spirit Enables
Boom
When a writer or the leader or other skilled
individual has touched the Spirit in his own inspiration in
his field, it touches the Spirit of the population also.
This individual Spirit calling the social Spirit creates a
live ever-increasing movement, a boom, e.g. of sales or
popularity.
Anyone who is patient enough to invoke the Spirit in his
own life, who acts on his own faith in Spirit rather than
his own individual capacities to succeed, will witness such
a boom in his own life. How far it will rise depends upon
how far he is in tune with the Spirit of the Times.
With the spiritual Force ever-increasing in the
atmosphere, this phenomenon of interrelated Spirit is
ever-more likely to burst out into boom. (Paraphrase of MSS)
Moving from the Surface to the Inner Being to
Reorient One's Life to the Spirit
Man lives
mostly in his surface mind, life and body, but there is an
inner being within him with greater possibilities to which
he has to awake - for it is only a very restricted influence
from it that he receives now and that pushes him to a
constant pursuit of a greater beauty, harmony, power and
knowledge. The first process of Yoga is therefore to open
the ranges of this inner being and to live from there
outward, governing his outward life by an inner light and
force. In doing so he discovers in himself his true soul
which is not this outer mixture of mental, vital and
physical elements but something of the Reality behind them,
a spark from the one Divine Fire. He has to learn to live in
his soul and purify and orientate by its drive towards the
Truth the rest of the nature. There can follow afterwards an
opening upward and descent of a higher principle of the
Being. (Sri Aurobindo)
Formula of Discovering the Spirit Within
Concentrate your focus away from the surface of life and
move to the depths within. A new inner poise, as well as a
calm and peace will gradually get established. Once it is
established, consistently consecrate act, events, and
situation by opening to the Force, which will enable
abundant life response around you, leading to accelerated
results, achievement, and success.
This will amaze
you, and greatly energize you. It will also have the effect
of opening the pathways to the deepest parts, the Inner
Being, the True Self, the evolving soul. Then if you are
lucky, you will actually move through this wider opening
within and really experience the Inner Being, the personal
evolving soul on a more continuous basis, which is, in
essence, the first great opening and stage for an individual
on the road to one's ultimate evolutionary possibility.
|
I |
Spirit, Offering, Token Gesture |
Offering |
|
I |
Spirit, Soul, Ego |
Assertions
that We Are God |
|
I |
Spirituality, Understanding God |
Mind's Need
to Expand to Know God |
|
I |
Spirituality, Flowers |
Benefit,
Results that Come from Flowers |
|
I |
Spirituality, Religion |
Not Admitting
of Evolution |
|
I IV |
Spirit Evolution |
Evolution in the Cosmos |
|
I |
Spirit, Superconscient from Subconscient |
Uniting the Subconscient and Superconscient |
|
I |
Spirit, Spirit |
Untitled |
|
I |
Spiritual Person |
The Spiritual Person's Moments |
|
I |
Spiritual Makeup-subconscient |
Moving from Subconscient to Conscient |
|
I |
Spirit, Creation Power, Process |
Our Divine
Power of Creation |
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Connecting to Spirit |
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Connecting to Spirit |
Man's
Undeveloped Inner Existence |
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Connecting to Spirit, Our Ultimate Spiritual Potential |
Into the
Subliminal Mind to Enable Consciousness Over Force & the
Evolution of Man [Out of the Spirit Being came Consciousness and Force. Force is lower, Consciousness is higher. In Force we are limited to ego, pain, duality, time, finite. In Consciousness there can be end of ego, universality, unity, instantaneous time, and the infinite. By going within to the inner mind and beyond to the personal evolving soul we can enable Consciousness and all its attributes. We back closer to Being, the source of all. This movement is the key to the evolution of Man.] |
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Connecting to Spirit, (1) Our Purpose to Embody Spirit, (2) Our Ultimate Spiritual Potential |
Ascent of Man
and Descent of Spirit |
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Connecting to Spirit, Spiritual View Life, Life Response |
Positive
Effect of Not Taking Notice of Defects of Others |
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Spirit, Luck |
On Those Who
Attracts Luck |
Consciousness & Being
- Consciousness is the conscious experience of Being.
- Being is the Self of Existence. (MSS)
Availability of
Spirituality for this Who Have the Call, the Aspiration for It
-Religious worship is for all. Spirituality is for those who have the
call.
-There was a time when spirituality was meant for one who could go to the forest, sleep on a bed of nails, etc. Now since 1956 when the Force descended, the right to enjoy a higher spirituality is waiting at the door of everyone, provided he has aspiration. By aspiration it means the aspiration of the Soul. (MSS)
Centuries Overcome in
Split Second through Spirit
Any
process that requires centuries in life requires only a
split second in Spirit. What you spiritually and
consciously choose will give you that split second growth.
(MSS)
Bring Out the
Infinite in Things, Individuals
The Divine is in everything. So why not discover the spirit
in every thing, every object, and of course every individual
you come upon, enabling its infinite nature to come forward
in your life.
God Waits
God waits for man to choose Him; to
use Him.
The Spiritual
Individual is Beyond the Past
The spiritual individual is not limited by the formulas or
realizations of the past but is moved by an original inspiration from
the soul. (MSS-GJ)
Spiritual Persons Do
Not Punish; They Wait for Culprit to Come Forward
If you are spiritual, you should not punish others. You should consider
their shortcomings as your own. To protect their defects until they come
forward on their own to change themselves is a spiritual requirement.
[PS You can invoke that coming forward of the culprit through inner
mean.] (MSS, with addition in brackets)
Spiritual Persons Do
Not Assert
One who is
spiritually inclined should not assert. (MSS)
Be Good to One Who is
Evil
To be good to a person who is good to us is not difficult. To be good to
a person who is evil to us is not easily possible. It may not be
necessary for the outer life. However, it is necessary for inner
integrity. (MSS)
Life Rewards Your
Inner, Not Outer Behavior
Life rewards not your behaviour, but what you are inwardly. It is not
enough you are humble in public or private, because it is only a
behaviour.
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Invoke the Spirit, call in Mother, be quiet, practice Silent Will,
resort to Faith, give up all reliance of capacity, things will go
smoothly. (MSS)
Shade Needs Light,
but Light Needs Not Shade
Shade needs light; light is not dependent on shade. Sri Aurobindo said
the higher consciousness does not need the lower human consciousness,
while the lower cannot exist without the higher. (MSS)
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Spirit, Negative? |
Man is
Divine, is Hostile to Divine |
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Spiritual, Spirit over Mind? |
The Safety of
Spirit vs. Precariousness of Life/Mind that Needs to Cross Over
the Line |
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Spirit Health Individual Capacity, Personality |
One's
Internal and External Life |
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Spirit Individual Capacity, Personality Life Response, Spirit |
Spiritual
Personality that Overcomes Limitations of your Social &
Psychological Personality |
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Spirit Health Individual Capacity, Personality |
One's
Internal and External Life |
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Spirit, Value of Truth, Hero, Romance, Spiritual Adventure? |
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The Nature of Thought |
Our Own
Creativity is Ultimately the Creativity of the Divine |
| Spiritual Expressions |
Expression of the
Presence Peace, Joy, ease, cosy comfort, inner chillness, velvety feelings, light, Silence, etc. are the signs of their Presence. (MSS) |
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| Spiritual Knowledge |
Light as Cosmic Expression of Knowledge Light in the spiritual sense is the cosmic expression of knowledge. It is spiritual light. (MSS) |
Consciousness
Consciousness is ultimately awareness of one's existence, all
existence as spirit.
How We Are God (Brahman) in Action
The first thing we can understand is that we are not "under God," but we are God; i.e. evolving God. God (aka The Absolute, the Omnipresent Reality, Brahman) is that which enabled the universe, as well as that universe itself. But if that is true, then how come there is not the perfection in us, in God's "body," as there is allegedly in God's pure spiritual essence as Being? I.e. why is there suffering here? The answer is that at the current planes we live in and center our consciousness in -- mainly the physical and vital/emotional life plane -- we perceive and live in the divisions and dualities of existence. But at the higher realms of clear rational mind and upwards to spiritual mind and beyond, we see the purpose of these conflicts and contradictions; that they serve the purpose of ever-emerging higher harmonies.
In fact, as we rise to these spiritual planes above sense-mind, and as we live in a deeper consciousness within, we more accurately see where each conflict and contradiction of life we encounter is leading towards. In that way we can speed up the resolution of the higher harmony. We can perceive where each side in a conflict is really growing, developing, and evolving towards, giving one a keen insight into their nature, enabling us to develop powerfully creative strategies for improvement, that when acted upon lead to perfect and vast results. This enables the higher harmony to emerge quickly and abundantly; which means we have accelerated time, and history; we have brought the future into the present; and have brought the infinite results into the Now that we formerly perceived as finite in scope. We have overcome Nature's slow course of resolving the conflicts and contradictions of life; and through our higher consciousness, accelerated the development and emergence of the higher harmonies.
To live this way, we serve our great purpose in life; in the universe. We become, in one sense, an Active God in the form of a person in the universe. In that way, we truly are God in life, God in action.
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Spirit
liberates man from his past deeds and lives. It also makes life submit
to him and serve him, rather than the reverse where he is subject to the
happy or difficult laws of Nature. (Paraphrase of MSS)
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If we realize the Absolute
we can create anything infinitely. This is a practical concept of
infinity. Surrender to the Absolute enables this practical concept of
infinity; i.e. from that relation we can create anything. (Paraphrase of
MSS)
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Seeing that all is Divine
helps you understand that there is no real conflict or opposition in
life when they seem to appear. Then all difficulties fall away.
(Paraphrase of The Mother)
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Adherence
to the Divine means limitless energy personifying abundance in infinite
expansion. (Paraphrase of MSS)
Spirit is More Powerful
than Mind
As the mind is more powerful than the body, the Spirit is more
powerful than the mind. Once you believe, intensify that belief into
faith by comprehending the superior nature of Spirit as you have
witnessed in your life. (MSS)
Force and Being
Force is outside us; Being is inside us. (Paraphrase of MSS)
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'Have
confidence in yourself' is popular advice with both a false and a true
meaning. It depends upon what is meant by the 'self.' If it means a
seemingly separate personality which seeks power over others, which is
always demanding something, the advice becomes just another road to
ruin. But if we take the self to mean an awakening point of cosmic
consciousness, which steadily expands its vision of reality, the advice
is accurate and inspiring. (The Daily Guru)
From Division to Oneness; Contradictions to
Complements
When we experience all
existence as One, the Oneness of the universe relative to spirit; when
we know the Omnipresent Reality, Brahman; then we see that the
divisions, dualities, and separations of existence are not so,
but are really relations of Oneness.
Power of Living
in Depths
We can
learn to live in the depths or stand in the light of the spirit above so
that we can experience -
-the timelessness
of the eternal beyond the changes of time
-the oneness and continuity of the past and future as it relates to the
present (i.e. the experience of the present not in isolation but in
oneness with its precedent past and its unfolding future.)
-the unfolding of moments of eternal timelessness in the ever-present.
Two Ways to Spirit
We can know spirit by bursting through mind, through knowledge born of
silence, light, illumination, intuition, and revelation. One can also
open directly to the spirit by opening to the spiritual Force that is
around us everywhere. By opening to the Force consistently in life, we
can make all of life a dynamic field of its infinite power and grace, as
it descends into our lives, enabling infinite possibilities around us to
emerge. Open to the Force, and everything in your daily life works out
perfectly, even miraculously.
Being in Becoming;
The Great Formula of Infinite Life
Sri
Aurobindo, the Indian seer and sage, brought the knowledge of
evolution to the static bliss of communion with the Being that India
has known for three millennia. With this new integrality, the
spirit entering the events of our lives to release its infinite
potential is now a conceptive reality that we can truly live. We
now have laid out before us the complete knowledge of how to blend the
Being of spirit into the Becoming of the acts, events, and circumstances
of our lives. The path is there for our taking to enable the ultimate
evolutionary possibilities for life on earth, including ultimate
accomplishment, success, and joy.
Clairvoyance vs.
Spirit
The clairvoyant whose vision extends into the past as well as the future
does not have the capacity to relieve people of their problems. That is
a greater power of the Spirit.
Attaining Higher
Consciousness Permanently by Offering our Defects to the Divine
To reach the higher consciousness permanently, one must consider the
defective part of our nature as a problem and try to get rid of it.
Constant awareness of our low consciousness generating constant
aspiration for the Divine leads to higher consciousness permanently.
(Paraphrase of MSS)
The "Miraculous" Power of Spirit which Isn't
Spirit is Power. It has more power than Mind or Body. We call the power
of Spirit miraculous. As long as we are not in the plane of the Spirit,
its power looks like a miracle to us. In its own plane, the character of
being miraculous disappears. Miracle is the observation of events in one
plane of the play of forces from another plane. For one who has not
heard of a camera or seen a photograph, photography is a miracle. It is
not so to us who know what it is and how it works. (MSS)
TO BE CATEGORIZED
Spiritual Experience
Spiritual Knowledge,
Experience, Realization
Spiritual knowledge is great.
Spiritual experience is greater still. Spiritual realization
(i.e. permanent and integrally absorbed in the being) is
greatest of all. There is thus a descending garnering of
Spirit from the mind to the vital to the body itself.
An example: I know of the
power of the spiritual Force to alter the conditions of life
in my favor. (It is spiritual
knowledge).
On occasion, I utilize the Force and attract good fortune
each time. (It is a form of spiritual
experience.)
At any moment, I spontaneously consecrate the event or
situation, attracting the very best conditions in a
continuous stream. (It has become fundamental to my nature;
thus is it is spiritual
realization.)
These distinctions apply for
garnering other spiritual qualities; including Oneness with
others and life, Inner Silence, connecting with our Evolving
Soul, Delight and Bliss, and Divine-like Love. They each can
be known, experienced, or realized, in an ascending scale.
Becoming an Instrument of the Force
From the spiritual perspective, our sole
purpose in life is to collaborate with and be an instrument
of the spiritual Force that is trying to manifest a
particular divine aspect in the world through us.
Opening to the Spiritual Force
The fastest
way to transform one's self is to consistently open to the
spiritual Force before engaging in any act. Not only does it
elicit sudden good fortune, but it creates a channel in your
being that opens you to the Spirit and its multifaceted
influence. E.g. over time you become calmer inside, more
aware of the truth unfolding around you, and experience an
inner richness and joy that is ever-lasting. If you employ
this spiritual technique regularly, you will be born into a
new way of living.
Ascent and Descent of Spirit
The spiritual person from within
connects upward to the spiritual heights; to the Infinite,
the Eternal, the Conscious Force; which elicits a
corresponding decent from Above that changes our inner and
outer condition and existence.
Bringing Out
Divine Properties that are Within Us
When
anything evolves from a particular source, it will certainly
have the ingredients of it. This is also true for we humans
and our relationship to the Divine. Thus, we have embedded
in our being the capacity for infinite peace, oneness,
knowledge, wisdom, power, creativity, beauty, love, and
delight; reflecting the Infinite consciousness that is the
ultimate Source of who we are. To have the experience of any
of these spiritual attributes is to realize the divinity
that lies within us; bringing it to the surface of life and
effecting great progress for ourselves, the world.
$100,000
$100,000,
which I first came across five years ago, is the most
exemplary spirit-oriented short story I have ever read. It
captures in a profound, humorous and poetic manner the
transition from ignorance to spirit and grace. I have always
thought the enigmatic and magical character Punit was Sri
Karmayogi in disguise, but I am not sure. Chandrasekaran
(aka William Learner), an associate of mine, has created a
masterpiece that touches the heart and the soul. Anyone
interested in accomplishment through spirit will find much
food for thought and inspiration here.
$100,000 can
be read for free
here. Karmayogi's comments on $100,000 can be
found
here.
Nirvana, Samadhi,
and Integral Realization
In the
Eastern tradition, there are two great types of spiritual
experience and realization. There is also a new, modern one
that trumps the other two since it is more dynamic and
related to life. Here are the three:
Nirvana --
This is the Buddhist experience of going within, meditating,
and being free from all of the attachments to the forms and
forces of life, enabling one to experience a bliss-like
release, which is Sartor. Such experiences culminate in the
ultimate attainment of Nirvana. It is the realization of the
negation of all existence, from the bonds and fetters of
ordinary life, experienced as ultimate release. There is the
permanent experience of beingness and bliss in this
movement, but there is no sign or connection to a soul. let
alone a transcendent divine Reality.
Samadhi -
This is the very powerful experience of the ancient Indian
Rishis of the Upanishadic period, who rose above this world
and made contact with the ultimate Divine Reality; Brahman,
God, the Absolute. It was perhaps the greatest spiritual
achievement ever by a collective of individuals. Despite its
magnificence, theirs was an experiences apart from life,
which they shunned, and therefore had no effect on the daily
existence of humanity.
Integral
Realization -- This is the modern, new age experience of the
spirit as espoused the seer and sage Sri Aurobindo and
others. Here we make contact with the divine Reality through
an inner movement, culminating in the evolving soul, while
opening to the transcendent heights above, and then bring
its consciousness and force (i.e. power) to bear on our
daily lives, evolving and transforming ourselves and the
world. This is the powerful and practical spirituality of
the 21st century and beyond.
Transitions from
the Higher to the Lower, Physical Consciousness
It is rather startling to move back and forth from a higher
consciousness, where one feels the Presence and Connection
with what is Above or within, to the physical consciousness,
of habit and routine, and back again. It is a movement from
the freshness and dynamic existence to dullness, and back.
It is an indicator of a spiritually evolving individual
engaged in a dance of increasing progress and realization.
In Spiritual Experience Nothing Repeats
Spiritual experience is a constant
wonder as nothing repeats. (Karmayogi)
Spiritual Transformation
Levels of
Physical Transformation
We can discern various stages of physical transformation.
One is to overcome through spirito-psychological means small
pains and illnesses. Further still is still is to transform
the very cells of the body so that their programming changes
from decay to sustainability. An ultimately transformed
individual would be able to live as long as desired. This
would require a fundamental change in the nature of the
human body, including a transmutation of key material
systems, including breathing, digestion, absorption,
circulation, etc. The Mother tries the experiment of
physical transformation by opening the cells of the body to
the spiritual Force. (already
copied)
Karmayogi and Life Response, and the
a New, Divine Existence
Sri Aurobindo tried to gather round him 10 or more people to
help bring down the spiritual Force (Truth Consciousness,
aka Supermind) and usher in a New Age. Instead, they were
very resistant. So decades later, MSS went back to square
one, and in the 1970s Karmayogi consistently experienced and
spoke of the phenomenon of Life Response to the people
around him. Through these tiny miracles, there was an
opening in those individuals to a higher existence that many
have now begun to move through. As a result of their LF
experience, they are learning the subtle Laws of Life, plus
they are consistently opening to the spiritual Force, and
seeing Its power to alter life conditions; which is in
essence Sri Aurobindo implored his closest disciples to do;
which they did not. We hundreds, thousands, and more, are
thus living out Sri Aurobindo's yogic dream; each of taking
small but significant steps toward a New Way of Living, and
a spirit-oriented, Divine Life and existence.
Ascent and Descent
Each height we conquer we have to turn to bring down its
power and its illumination into the lower mortal
movement.
Spirit-based Delight
Human Happiness
vs. the Divine Delight We Can Experience
Sri Aurobindo makes the distinction between normal human
happiness and the Delight of the Divine. Ordinary happiness
is transient and ephemeral; depending on whether conditions
are perceived as favorable or not. Delight of the Spirit on
the other hand has its source in the highest, Infinite
consciousness, and is therefore illimitable, permanent, and
ever-lasting.
Spiritual Delight is also "self existent" -- i.e. it does
not create a shadow or dark side, including unhappiness; --
whereas human happiness is not self-existent, which means it
can at any time reverse into a dark side, expressing as
unhappiness and pain.
Sri Aurobindo also indicates that when the Divine Conscious
Force works in us, then the transient happiness we normally
experience will be replaced by the more permanent,
self-existent joy that is the Immortal's ecstasy -- i.e.
Pure Delight, Bliss, Ananda.
The Greatest Pleasure in Life
The greatest, deepest, most lasting
pleasure in life is the feeling that one is growing as a
person -- i.e. in Consciousness and Spirit.
Self-giving and Spiritual Happiness
The greatest Human happiness comes from being self-giving to
others. Beyond that is Spiritual happiness, which is
Delight, Ananda, and Bliss.
Existing in Time;
Being Conscious in Timelessness
Every moment
when we merely exist, we live in temporary time. As a
result, life takes its toll. Every moment we live in higher
consciousness, we live in eternal timelessness, bringing new
freshness to existence.
Attracting
through Higher Consciousness that Overcomes Space and Time
-When we act from a
higher consciousness, we attract circumstance that overcome
space and time, as the corresponding attracted objects just
suddenly appears before us.
-When we attract through
higher consciousness, we bring the timelessness of the
eternal into the time of normal life.
The Force Avoids
Problems of the Future
One
remarkable aspect of the spiritual Force -- Sri Aurobindo
calls it the "supramental" power of the Divine -- is that It
knows future circumstance and outcomes, and therefore sets
right conditions in the present to avoid these. For example,
through our opening to the Spirit, we avoid purchasing a
certain mode of computer that will turn out to have problems
in the future, compelling us to purchase a similar but safe
one now in the present. In this way, the Spirit and Grace,
which sees beyond past, present, and future, guides us in
the right direction to avoid problems that will crop up
later on.
Origins of,
Moving Beyond Time
In the Indian tradition, time is born when there was a split
into subject and object. Before that, there is timelessness,
which is the ongoing status of the Infinite Divine.
When we move beyond that split in consciousness, we
recapture that timelessness.
Moving within to the soul makes this possible. At that
point, we overcome space-time, enabling instantaneous
miraculousness -- i.e. sudden good fortune, in acts and
events. It occurs similarly when we open to the spiritual
Force.
Timelessness and Spacelessness from Various Planes
As you move into the other realms of existence, time
and space are very different from that which we experience
in the physical universe. They tend to evaporate. Even in
the material world we observe, we can know timelessness and
spacelessness in the time and space we dwell in. E.g., when
we discover our evolving soul within, our mind expands into
the spiritual dimensions, where we experience life in
instantaneousness and timelessness. Opening to the Divine
Mother's Force also enables such instantaneous
miraculousness.
The Present Can
Affect the Past
Several
years ago, a group of French scientists published an
experiment indicating that what they did in the present
could retroactively change events that already occurred in
the past. It was another indicator of the true nature of
time; that the past, present and future are not three
divided aspects, as mind perceives it, but are one continuum
of existence. Therefore, from any point in time, any other
point can be affected.
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In the third dimension of time, there is instantaneous
miraculousness. (paraphrase of Karmayogi)
(already copied)
The Potential Future that is Gone
The future is past relative to a present
that has gone by. I.e. the future is subjective to the
moment, and when the moment of perceiving it passes, so does
that potential future.
On Three Poises
of Consciousness and the Urge to Travel
The
individual of limited consciousness has little desire to
travel, as he perceives the world around him as the entire
world. The educated person seeks to travel the world since
he knows there are physical and cultural horizons beyond his
own. The spiritual man seeks to be everywhere, but to travel
nowhere, as he perceives that he is in all places
simultaneously from his infinite-like poise within.
The Internet,
Consciousness, Space, and Time
In our
highest consciousness, we live and create beyond space and
time. The Internet, a product of the Mind of Man, is the
first major outer projection of that higher consciousness;
as it too enables results that transcend space and time.
Human Mind Can't
Conceive Spacelessness & Timelessness of Universe; and the
Reality
The human mind cannot conceive of the fact that the universe
goes on forever infinitely in terms of space; and has no
beginning, and has always existed and always will, in terms
of time. That incomprehension of the mind is also there when
it comes to perceiving the nature of the Reality that
exceeds the universe, and yet includes it.