The programme was organised by NAMAH, the Journal of Integral Health, from 20th – 23rd June 2022 with an aspiration to facilitate the journey of gaining insight into one’s own complex individuality and provide space for Self-Enquiry for participants to create their own toolbox for cultivating an integral personality guided by their psychic presence. About 25people registered for the event.
The first session focused on the evolutionary journey of an individual and how man’s knowledge of himself is partial and as a result his ignorance of others is even greater. The speaker also highlighted the importance of becoming aware of the relation between knowledge and power, a potent combination that we have to grow conscious of in our life and start manifesting in our living. Real change takes place when liberating knowledge is brought to life to make real progress on the path. Integral living is dynamic living. We are constantly in a state of movement as we are always walking towards our goal. We are neither negating, nor leaving any of our parts unattended. This progressive harmonisation to keep progressing on the path can only happen through actual experiences, and increasing awareness and alignment with the process. The speaker also brought to discussion the unending conflicts between different parts of the being and offered unification at all levels as a potential solution to resolve these conflicts experientially. Basics of Integral yoga psychology were discussed to create a foundation for all the participants to get a first look at the fundamentals of Integral living and to begin exploring the possibility of self-observation to understand the structure of human being as seen from the Integral lens
In the second session, the speaker looked at all the parts of the being in detail and brought participant’s attention to the gap between the inner and outer self and ways to bridge this gap through an inside-out approach. Further exploration of the process of bridge-building led to deeper insights into the composition and functionality of an individual’s personality. The speaker then discussed the Western perspective of personality and its limitation to the functionality aspect wherein in the integral perspective, the inner realm (composition) is given more importance; and the outer being is consciously evolving to become an instrument for manifestation (functionality) of the inner truth and engagement with the world in that poise of being connected to the psychic being (the dynamic aspect of our innermost being). At the end of the session, few self-reflective questions were offered to the participants for making their exploration more concrete
The third session began with a self-reflection exercise that made participants aware of how they see themselves and examine the narrative that they have built of who they are. The speaker then discussed the role of collective evolution on the path of self-exploration and how self-discovery is a process-oriented approach with a possibility of transforming our nature. When we are excessively product/outcome oriented, we are unable to ‘hold the bridge’ that connects the inner being with the outer world. Often, emotions hijack the mind. If we are excessively image-conscious, we cannot be fully ourselves. Our sense of identity is always relational, dependent on the outside world. The reference-point is the world/people (roles, relationships) that give us a sense of belonging. When we make our inner being as the reference-point, it helps us to see the multiple parts in ourselves objectively and work towards integral development by bringing them all together and aligning them around our inner presence (true identity). We begin to see that identifying with the surface leads to ignorance and bondage, we also start sensing that true knowledge and freedom comes with identifying with our inner being. We begin to experience an inner freedom to see our weakness, understand our motives, develop a transparent relation with ourselves and work on bringing more awareness in our everyday interactions with the world. As our process unfolds and we progress on our journey, an objective view of our subjective self becomes our second nature over passage of time
The fourth session focused on bringing it all together and ways to develop a toolbox for integral living. The core of Integral living was discussed wherein the foremost thing is to become conscious of our aim and purpose of life. What is the driving-force behind our action and as time passes, how much are we working on expressing our essence in a form that not only is uplifting at the individual level but also contributes to collective growth. Recognising our own entry-point (Mental/Vital/Physical) in the world that enables us to express and widen our interactions with the world, while still being centred around our highest aspiration. The gap between our senses receiving information from the world and our brain’s interpretation of the same is the potential space for self-work and the more we become aware of this space the more is the possibility of self-work. The speaker shared different possibilities and guidelines given by The Mother for living a conscious life and working towards becoming a better version of ourselves with each passing day. The speaker further laid emphasis on how an attitude of inner renunciation and purity in our ‘intention to evolve’ forms the base for self-work. It helps us to engage with the world without entanglements and enables us to move beyond the ‘what should/should not be’ and experience the present moment without attachment to the outer but by being anchored in the inner being. The session ended with a short exercise; Map of our ‘being’
This four-day exploration was offered at the Lotus Feet of The Mother and all the sessions started with a minute of silence every day and prayers to the Masters for their constant Grace and Guidance. Discussions on self and its different dimensions gave all the participants an insight into the complexities of their own being and the space to reflect on their patterns and frameworks developed over a period of time. The key takeaway often highlighted during all sessions was the importance of balance between inner living and outer action and to continue walking the path with awareness and developing one’s own ways to become more and more experientially rooted in the Presence within and expressing that in actions and expressions in the world. After every session, participants were encouraged to share their takeaways in the form of keywords with an intention to make the knowledge-sharing a living experience for them. Overall, the message conveyed was how the integral way of living helps us resolve the contradictions on the surface as we become more inward-looking and make an attempt to go beyond the divisive nature of mind. A ‘sense of simultaneity’ emerges in our being and we progress on the path by bringing the inner and outer closer and closer with each passing day with an intention of making the journey from Awareness to Awakening through Alignment.
Feedback
“Aditi spoke with a flow of great clarity – lucid and with all the right, wonderful references to the Mother and Sri Aurobindo, delivered in a manner which would enlighten even a non- follower of the Masters. Truly, Integral Psychology in the Light of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo. Aditi spoke from the heart and with passion – she really seemed to be coming from the space of a guiding- force. Beautiful.”
“Look forward to more workshops with Aditi”.
Did this workshop increase your understanding of Integral Psychology?
“Most definitely. I have never seen a better breakdown of Integral Psychology which is so simple and practical. And the simplicity fuels the aspiration of my individual practices.”
