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Indulgence of Desire Does Not Lead to Rejection · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  If we reflect on how we learn, how we gain skills, we find that
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  one of the key elements is repetition.
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  We train our muscles through repetition of an exercise
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  regimen, we train our minds through repetition, and we train
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  our responses through repetition.
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  At some point, we embed the results of the repetition into
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  what we call muscle memory or cellular memory.
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  Our immune systems respond more effectively to provocations that
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  have been seen before. There is thus a memory in our
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  immune system. Events and perceptions create a
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  cascade of hormones, neurotransmitters and nervous
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  impulses, all of which can be and mainly are encapsulated in
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  our cells as memories, which can be triggered by similar
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  circumstances, events or perceptions.
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  This same mechanism of repetition has been explored in
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  the field of human psychology. A general understanding has
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  arisen that we build neural pathways, grooves if you will,
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  that move repeated impulses and stimuli more easily and swiftly
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  than anything we experience for the first time, which requires
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  new pathways and linkages to be created.
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  We can apply this understanding to our vital nature.
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  Repetition builds a pathway for easier entry and response.
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  Our vital nature recognizes the stimulus and based on prior
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  experience, automatically admits it.
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  Eventually this creates a fixed habit of response.
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  Over long periods of evolutionary time, fixed habits
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  tend to become embedded as what we call instincts.
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  We find that in many cases, the idea that indulgence will help
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  eliminate the desire eventually is simply a way the vital nature
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  finds to try to justify the indulgence to the mind.
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  This is frequently supported by cultural and societal norms that
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  may justify the fulfillment of certain types of desires as
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  being something natural and necessary for health and
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  well-being of the individual. Of course, what may be natural
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  based on long vital habit and therefore acceptable to normal
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  life in the world, is not the objective or goal of the
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  spiritual seeker. Rather, the seeker aspires to
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  transform and uplift human nature to a next level of
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  evolutionary development. Once a habit of response has
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  been created, it becomes more difficult to reject it than if
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  we make a choice the first time to not accept the impulsion that
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  is asking the vital nature to respond.
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  The deeper the habit becomes embedded, the more strenuous the
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  effort needed to effectuate the rejection later, necessitating
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  patience and perseverance on the part of the seeker.
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  This is the reason why indulgence is not generally A
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  suitable mechanism for overcoming the force of vital
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  desire. There is sometimes confusion
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  about the experience of indulgence leading to a sense of
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  satiation which leads the individual to believe that the
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  action has led to the intended result of rejection.
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  This is simply a shift from the rajasic quality, which reaches
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  out to experience the object of desire and the fall back to the
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  temasek quality when the desire is fulfilled.
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  This is a temporary experience, and when rajas once again comes
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  to the fore, it once again reaches out for the fulfillment
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  of the desire. This repetitive cycle does not
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  lead to rejection, but to an endless series of indulgences
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  followed by the lassitude that follows the fulfilled desire.
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  There are a variety of methods to change this dynamic over
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  time. Shifting to the witness
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  consciousness and rejecting the entry of the desire when it
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  tries to invade is 1 method. Opening to the psychic being and
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  changing the focus to the spiritual realization is
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  another. There are also short term
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  methods that can aid the secret in particular situations, such
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  as remembering and calling on the Guru or the Divine Presence,
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  which immediately moves the awareness away from the
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  fulfillment of the desire. Some seekers fled the being with
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  the force of a mantra for short term immediate relief from
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  pressure of an insistent desire. The vibrations overwhelm the
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  nervous and vital pathways that otherwise would be carrying the
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  desire impulse to the being. Another frequently used method
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  is what is called nada shudhi, the purification of the nerve
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  channels through the use of focused breathing techniques.
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  Pranayam. Eventually a new habit can be
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  built up to not accept the desire impulse or to substitute
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  it with a devotional, spiritual or psychospiritual alternative.
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  Fioro Bindo writes quote. Your theory is a mistaken 1.
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  The free expression of a passion may relieve the vital for a
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  time, but at the same time it gives it a right to return
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  always. It is not reduced at all.
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  Suppression with inner indulgence in subtle forms is
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  not a cure, but expression in outer indulgence is still less a
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  cure. It is perfectly possible to go
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  on without manifestation if one is resolute to arrive at a
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  complete control, the control being not a mere suppression but
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  an inner and outer rejection. Vital desire grows by being
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  indulged. It does not become satisfied.
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  If your desire were indulged, it would begin to grow more and
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  more and ask for more and more. That has been our constant
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  experience with the Sodacs and it confirms what has always been
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  known about desire. Desire and envy have to be
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  thrown out of the consciousness. There is no other way to deal
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  with them. End Quote.
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  Reference Sri Orovendu and the Mother Looking from within,
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  Chapter 5. Attitudes on the Path, page 154.