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Neither Suppression, Indulgence, Blame-Shifting Nor Avoidance Solves the Issue of Overcoming the Vital Force of Desire · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  When a spring is compressed, it builds up a tremendous power of
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  potential energy, which gets released when the force that is
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  compressing the spring is released.
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  This is essentially how the vital force of desire operates
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  when we try to suppress a drive through willpower or other forms
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  of restraint. The resultant explosion of the
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  force, when it gets a chance to express itself, sometimes goes
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  far beyond what the normal drive would do if it's simply allowed
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  to operate in the normal course. It is no wonder that attempts to
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  control the vital through mental willpower eventually prove to
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  not work. It is also no wonder that there
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  are innumerable instances of individuals who have taken vows
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  of chastity, for instance, who wind up engaging in pursuits
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  that overcome the force of those vows.
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  We try to enforce moral laws or rules on people, but find that
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  somehow the vital Dr. succeeds in manifesting itself.
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  Some individuals attempt to bring their vital nature under
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  control through various forms of punishment or even torture, such
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  as with a hair shirt or the use of the celise as a way to
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  mortify the flesh. Some try to blame others for
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  their failure to control various vital drives, leading to
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  potential beatings, torture, ritual purifications, or murders
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  in the name of some kind of moral purity.
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  Witness the Salem Witch trials or the burning of Joan of Arc as
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  extreme examples of an attempt to enforce morality on others to
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  make up for the individual failures of the people holding
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  the power to solve the Riddle of the vital drives.
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  Some try to simply avoid the issue entirely by renouncing the
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  active life, withdrawing from social relationships, and
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  thereby avoiding much of the pressure and impulsion of the
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  vital nature when it is exposed to various forms of temptation.
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  Unfortunately, this approach does not actually solve the
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  issue, but simply puts off the issue to a future time, place or
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  circumstance. And in some cases we have
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  learned about the renunciate when suddenly exposed to
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  temptation, either through entering into a societal setting
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  where having the issue come before him where he has his
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  retreat, has been shown to lose control of the vital nature and
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  either indulge the desire or manifest anger that arises due
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  to the energy being suppressed and not otherwise directed or
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  dissipated. Since it is clear that
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  suppression does not work, nor does the use of punishment,
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  torture, or any attempt to blame others for one's own inability
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  to manage the vital forces in one's life, there must be
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  another way. This also has led to various
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  attempted solutions. One of these is the idea that
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  one should just let nature take its course and indulge in these
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  vital drives as they arise. That, of course, turns out to be
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  a weak justification for a failure to address the need for
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  development and change of human nature and winds up distracting
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  the individual from focus on the goal.
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  Another, even more radical method is to indulge the desire
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  actively and purposely with the idea that through satiation it
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  will be put to rest. Unfortunately, history of this
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  approach tells us that it is the very rare individual who finds
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  such a solution to actually succeed.
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  And for the most part, the indulgence increases both the
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  power of the drive and in many cases increases the dosage
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  needed to achieve satiation as time goes on, leading to an ever
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  increasing cycle of indulgence and satiation, but certainly not
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  to rejection and a redirection of the energies to other and
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  higher pursuits. If suppression, shifting of the
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  blame, avoidance and indulgence do not work, we then have to
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  find a way that does work. As Sri Aurobindo has noted,
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  there is the separation of the witness consciousness from the
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  external act of nature, which makes it easier to 1st remove
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  any sanction for it and eventually reject the drive as
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  something external that is trying to invade rather than
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  something that is embedded as part of 1's own life and
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  personality. He also points out that shifting
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  the focus of the being to let the psychic being, the sole
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  entity, take charge of the life and provide its objectives, its
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  aspiration for spiritual fulfillment and a divine life
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  changed the direction and focus of the vital energy.
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  Each of these two methods have shown success in helping
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  individuals overcome the force of desire without the negative
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  effects of the other methods that have been attempted.
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  Srioro Bindo notes quote. It is true that the mere
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  suppression or holding down of desire is not enough, not by
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  itself truly effective. But that does not mean that
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  desires are to be indulged. It means that desires have not
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  merely to be suppressed, but to be rejected from the nature.
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  In place of desire there must be a single minded aspiration
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  towards the Divine. End Quote Reference Sri
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  Aurobindo and the Mother Looking from Within, Chapter 5,
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  Attitudes on the Path, pages 153 to 154.